Speaker: Dr Phil Bland, Imperial College London

About this event

In tonight’s talk Dr Bland will review the history of impact research, looking at the effects of asteroidal and cometary impacts, where impactors come from in the Solar System, our chances of being hit, and options for mitigation.

About the Speaker

Phil Bland studied geology as an undergraduate, graduating in 1991. His first research employment was to develop a meteorite curatorial facility at the Open University as part of the EU EUROMET program (1991-1993). He began a part-time PhD in 1992, completed in 1994. From 2000 to date he has been supported by the Royal Society, as University Research Fellow. He has been at Imperial College London since 2002, at the Department of Earth Science & Engineering. In 2004 he brought together planetary scientists at Imperial College London and the Natural History Museum to form IARC: the Impacts and Astromaterials Research Centre. He has led the group since that time. IARC is now one of the most productive planetary science groups in the business.

Bland's research is in three distinct areas: 1) the origin and early evolution of the Solar System through analysis of primitive meteorites and cometary samples; 2) understanding asteroid and cometary impacts, including the impact rate on Earth and other planets; 3) identifying the source regions and parent bodies for meteorites in the Solar System by recovery of samples with known orbits.

Highlights include: determining the impact rate for meteorites and asteroids on Earth; predicting meteorite accumulations on Mars (later confirmed by the MER rovers); establishing a network of fireball observatories in the Australian desert; showing that volatile depletion affected all chondritic materials; and confirming that chondrule formation was ‘local’.

17:30 - 18:30 Registration with light refreshments

18:30 - 20:00 Presentations and discussion

20:00 - 21:30 Networking  reception