Planetary scientist wins early career award

Juan Manuel Lora, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, has won the Ronald Greeley Early Career Award in Planetary Sciences from the American Geophysical Union.

The award, established in 2012, is presented annually and recognizes significant early-career contributions to planetary science from honorees within six years of receiving their Ph.D.

Lora is one of the principal investigators for NASA’s Dragonfly drone mission to the surface of Titan, Saturn’s icy moon. Dragonfly will investigate the habitability and prebiotic chemistry of dozens of sites on Titan.

Lora’s research uses numerical simulations, observational data, and laboratory data to better understand the atmospheric dynamics of planets and exoplanets, including Earth.