Francis Nimmo

University of California, Santa Cruz


Primary Section: 16, Geophysics
Secondary Section: 15, Geology
Membership Type:
Member (elected 2020)

Biosketch

Francis Nimmo is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His interests centre on the interiors and evolution of solid planets and moons. He received his B.A. in geoscience in 1993 and his Ph.D. on Volcanism and Tectonics on Venus in 1996, both from Cambridge University. He was subsequently a Junior Research Fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge; a Royal Society University Research Fellow at University College London; and an Adjunct Professor at UCLA. He joined the UCSC faculty in 2005. He is currently Vice-Chair of one of the panels in the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey.

Research Interests

Prof. Nimmo is on the InSight science team and three instruments for the Europa Clipper spacecraft. His current research interests include: the thermal and orbital evolution of ocean worlds; the timing and nature of core formation and volatile loss during planetary accretion; and the use of magnetic fields as a probe of thermal evolution.

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