The National Science Foundation (NSF) is proud to announce that 34-year-old David Charbonneau, currently the Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University, will receive its 2009 Alan T. Waterman Award. Discover Magazine's 2007 Scientist of the Year, Charbonneau's research focuses on the development of novel techniques for the detection and characterization of planets orbiting nearby Sun-like stars--extra-solar planets, also known as exoplanets.
The annual Waterman award recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any field of science or engineering supported by NSF. Candidates may not be more than 35 years old, or seven years beyond receiving a doctorate, and must stand out for their individual achievements. In addition to a medal, the awardee receives a grant of $500,000 over a 3-year period for scientific research or advanced study in their field.
Dr. Charbonneau is a member of the NASA Kepler Team and is currently leading the NSF-funded MEarth Project. Each of these projects aims to detect Earth-like planets that might be suitable abodes for life beyond the Solar system. Charbonneau earned his doctorate in astronomy from Harvard University and his undergraduate degree in math and physics from the University of Toronto.
In addition to winning the NSF's top award, Charbonneau has been awarded many distinctions through the years. In 2004, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific awarded him the Robert J. Trumpler Award for his graduate thesis entitled "Shadows and Reflections of Extrasolar Planets." He was recently named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (2006-2011), and awarded a David and Lucile Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering (2006-2008), and the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (2006).
Congress established the Alan T. Waterman Award in August 1975 to mark the 25th Anniversary of the National Science Foundation and to honor its first Director. The annual award recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any field of science or engineering supported by the National Science Foundation. In addition to a medal, the awardee receives a grant for scientific research or advanced study in the mathematical, physical, biological, engineering, social, or other sciences at the institution of the recipient's choice. The 2009 recipient was Dr. David Charbonneau, Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. Dr. Charbonneau's research program focuses on the opportunities presented by looking for planets orbiting the smallest stars that are the closest to the Earth. Due to small size and low energy output of the star, off-the-shelf ground-based telescopes can be used to search for planets that are similar in size and temperature to the Earth. Once discovered, we can investigate the chemical composition of the atmospheres of these planets, and perhaps even search for the telltale signatures of life, called atmospheric biomarkers. The MEarth Project consists of two observatories, one at Mt. Hopkins, Arizona, and the other located at the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile. The funds from the Waterman Award were used primarily for the construction of the southern MEarth Observatory. MEarth-South consists of 8 identical telescopes, each 40cm in diameter and equipped with a digital CCD camera and a mount capable of surveying hundreds of individal stars per clear night. Using the northern MEarth observatory, the team discovered the super-Earth GJ1214b, which has since been intensively scrutinized with numerous large telescopes. The creation of the MEarth-South facility has now opened up the other half of the sky for the hunt for potentially Earth-like planets orbiting nearby small stars. Undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have completed advanced training through the opportunities presented by the MEarth facility. The data generated by MEarth are publicly released annually for all to use.
