Margaret Kivelson is a space physicist whose research revealed that the icy moons of Jupiter are complex water-worlds whose heavily scarred surfaces cover liquid oceans, and that a planetary magnetic field is generated deep within the moon, Ganymede. Through data analysis and theory, her work furthered understanding of the structure and dynamics of the magnetospheres of Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn and their interactions with the plasmas that surround them.
She currently leads the magnetometer team for the NASA Europa Clipper mission and chairs the Space Studies Board of the US National Academy of Sciences. For two decades, her co-edited ’Introduction to Space Physics’ was the most frequently adopted textbook on the subject. She has been awarded the Fleming Medal of the American Geophysical Union, the Alfvén medal of the European Geophysical Union, the Kuiper prize of the American Astronomical Society and the Gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the US National Academy of Sciences.
Professional position
- Research Professor, Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University Of Michigan
- Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
Subject groups
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Astronomy and Physics
Plasma physics
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Earth and Environmental Sciences
Geophysics, Planetary science
