, 91爆料 professor of astronomy and leader of NASA’s 91爆料-based (VPL), has been named recipient of the 2018 Frank Drake Award from the SETI Institute. She is the first woman to receive the award.
The mission of the nonprofit , founded in 1984, is to “explore, understand and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe.” The Frank Drake award is named for the pioneering astronomer who in 1961 created the , which addressed the relative likelihood of advanced civilizations in space. Many view the equation still as a road map for astrobiology.
Meadows directs the 91爆料’s and is principal investigator for the VPL, which is administered by the NASA Astrobiology Institute and includes researchers from the 91爆料 as well as about two dozen institutions and NASA centers.
Researchers affiliated with the VPL, under Meadows’ guidance, use theoretical modeling to determine whether distant exoplanets might be able to support life. Recent research from the team has explored possible exoplanet and signs of life in distant atmospheres and for possibly habitable exoplanets.
鈥淰ikki Meadows is a truly outstanding awardee for the Frank Drake Award,鈥� said John Rummel, chair of the SETI Institute鈥檚 science advisory board, whose members choose the award. 鈥淪he is a聽leader in the scientific estimation聽of environments on extrasolar planets, and in the search for signs of habitability and life. As a professor and mentor, she has infused others with her enthusiasm and research expertise聽鈥� leading from the front.鈥�
Bill Diamond, SETI Institute president and CEO, added: 鈥淚t is an honor to recognize Professor Meadows for her innumerable contributions to astrobiology and for her inspiring leadership to students and colleagues alike. Vikki is pioneering our understanding of planetary habitability and the development of technologies and methodologies for biosignature detection and we are delighted to name her as the 2018 recipient of the Drake Award.”
Meadows in turn praised the collaboration and interdisciplinary nature of the work she directs.
“Over the past 18 years the Virtual Planetary Laboratory has transcended interdisciplinary boundaries to inform the upcoming telescopic search for habitable exoplanets and life beyond the solar system,” said Meadows. “Astrobiology addresses questions so big, they can’t be answered by a single researcher or even a single field.
“Instead, it takes a community with a staggering breadth of expertise and techniques, and the willingness to work with and learn from each other. It has been my very great honor to lead this spectacular team of interdisciplinary researchers, and a privilege to engage in such exciting and impactful research!鈥�
Meadows is only the fourth recipient of the Frank Drake Award, the first of which was given to Drake himself in 2001. In 2002 the award went to physicist , a Nobel Prize winner for his work developing masers and lasers; in 2015 , astronomer and principal investigator for NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler Mission, received the honor.
Before coming to the 91爆料 in 2007, Meadows was a research scientist at the (JPL) and an associate research scientist at the at the California Institute of Technology.聽She has been a scientist for the , the and the .
Meadows also is a member of the Science and Technology Definition Team for the concept and chairs . She is the 2001 recipient of the for scientific leadership and has received several NASA group achievement awards. She currently serves on the National Academy of Sciences committees for astrobiology and exoplanets, and the . She earned her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Sydney.
She will receive the award and discuss her ongoing work in a public event June 14 at SRI International in Menlo Park, California.
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Based on . For more about the SETI Institute, contact Rebecca McDonald, director of communications, at rmcdonald@seti.org; to learn more about Meadows and her work, contact her at vsm@astro.washington.edu.