Dr. Ivy Curren

Dr. Ivy Curren
Dr. Ivy Curren
Postdoctoral Scholar
2017-2018 Cohort
Weizmann Institute of Science
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
  • Oded Aharonson
  • Oded Aharonson
  • Lab website

Dr. Curren came to the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Weizmann from the University of California, Los Angeles. While still a graduate student, she helped establish the UCLA Institute for Planets & Exoplanets.

Also while a student in Los Angeles, she served as a team member working on NASA’s Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment, an instrument that flies aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Diviner is designed to measure surface temperatures on the moon, and Dr. Curren conducted original research using its data.

Dr. Curren’s specialization in laboratory experimentation (used to supplement spacecraft data) has led her to explore the environmental processes that dictate the evolution of materials on the surfaces of solar system bodies. The low temperature (–40º C) chamber at the newly constructed Simulated Planetary Ices and Environments Laboratory (SPICE Lab) at Weizmann allows her to simulate such planetary-like processes.

Colleagues speak of her scientific excellence, but also of her high level of mentorship and outreach leadership, and the joy she takes in disseminating knowledge, improving the communication skills of other scientists, and stimulating the public to take an interest in STEM fields.