Penelope L. King

Penelope King uses geochemistry and cosmochemistry to study planetary processes to better understand past and future planetary environments, and what this information may tells us about climate change. She is a professor at the Australian National University (ANU) in the Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES). King holds many awards, including Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Mineralogical Society of America in 2019, and winning the AGU Joanne Simpson Medal for Mid-Career Scientists the same year. She currently leads a research group examining surface and interior processes on planetary bodies.
Early life and education.
Penelope King was born in Canada and moved several times early in her life, first to the United States and then her parents' native Australia. She grew up in Canberra, Australia, where the regional bushland provided many outdoor activities which King enjoyed. When King was nine, her family lived in England for a year. While in England, she had an assignment on columnar basalt and visited some of the islands that are part of the “Giant’s Causeway”. Geology did not become a part of King’s life again until she went to college. King attended the Australian National University (ANU) for her undergraduate education. While at ANU, a family friend suggested that a job working outside and traveling may be suitable for King. Geography was the first option King considered, but then she decided to join her friends in the geology program. She earned her Bachelor of Science from the Department of Geology in 1993, graduating with honors. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in Geology at Arizona State University (ASU), graduating in 1999.
Career and research.
After her graduate studies, King has made significant impacts as a professor at multiple institutions. King was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Western Ontario from 1999-2006, earning tenure in 2006. From 2007-2011, King was the Senior Research Scientist III for the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico. In 2012 King returned to the Australian National University, holding the positions of Fellow (2012-2014), ARC Future Fellow (2014-2018), and Senior Fellow (2015-2018) at the Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES). King was awarded a professorship at the RSES in 2019, where she is currently working. King has also held visiting and adjunct positions at other institutions, including Mesa Community College (1999), Arizona State University (1999), University of Tennessee Knoxville (2005), University of Western Ontario (2007-2012), and the University of Guelph (2011-2015).
King’s areas of expertise include geology, geochemistry, volcanology, surface processes, and extraterrestrial geology. King’s early research focused on the mineralogy, chemical composition, crystallization temperatures, and the petrogenesis of the aluminous A-type granites found in the Lachlan Fold Belt in Australia. With this information, King and her team were able to make a more coherent description and defining characteristics of A-type granites while acknowledging and providing evidence for inappropriate characterizations stated in other literature. In recent years, King has done significant research on planetary chemistry, such as gas-solid interactions involved in planetary processes and methane variation on Mars's Gale Crater using observations from the Curiosity Rover. She has authored and co-authored over 80 articles and papers, as well as edited two books.
King currently leads a research group that is studying surface and interior processes on planetary bodies. Using remote and infrared techniques to study the interaction of planetary materials with gases, she is hoping to understand how materials in the solar system behave and interact. This information can give insight into past and future planetary environments, earth processes, planetary formation, and climate change issues. As a teacher, King is passionate about improving career opportunities for a diversity of people and opening pathways for underrepresented people in the workplace.
Awards.
King has received multiple highly prestigious academic awards: