Nancy Chabot Named Meteoritical Society Vice President

Nancy Chabot, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, was elected vice president of the Meteoritical Society, an international organization that promotes planetary science research and education with a focus on meteorites and other extraterrestrial materials that further the understanding of the solar system’s origins.

After a term as vice president from 2021 to 2022, Chabot will serve as society president from 2023 to 2024.

As vice president, Chabot will oversee the society’s annual scientific meeting, publication of the society’s journal, the naming of meteorites, the appointment of society fellows and awards, and management of the society budget. Chabot will also promote worldwide outreach and research of meteorites, and support the next generation of meteorite scientists. She has been a member of the society since 1996 and served on its council from 2011 to 2014.

Chabot has an extensive background in space science and planetary geochemistry. She is coordination lead on NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the first planetary defense mission, and the deputy principal investigator for the Mars-moon Exploration with GAmma rays and NEutrons (MEGANE) instrument on the Japanese-led Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. Her research focuses on the evolution of rocky planetary bodies in our solar system, using meteorite data, laboratory experiments and geochemical modeling. She also manages the Meteorite Lab at APL, and even has an asteroid named after her — 6899 “Nancychabot.”

Chabot previously served as the instrument scientist of the Mercury Dual Imaging System on NASA’s MESSENGER mission, the first to orbit the planet Mercury.

“This [appointment] bespeaks the Lab’s leadership in the planetary science community,” said Scott Murchie, supervisor of the Planetary Exploration Group at APL.

“The Meteoritical Society is the first professional society I ever joined,” said Chabot. "I am very much looking forward to this new opportunity to lead this organization."