Unravelling the magnetic histories of Earth and other terrestrial objects

Annique van der Boon is a paleomagnetist at the University of Oslo (Norway), and principal investigator of the PANDA project (Norwegian Research Council Young Research Talent). Her research has focused on enigmatic intervals of Earth’s history (notably the Devonian) and more recently on developing and validating novel recorders of Earth's magnetic field. She is intrigued by the expression of natural phenomena as recorded by rocks, and what rocks can tell us about the history of our planet. Annique is a firm believer that fieldwork and science communication are essential components of Earth science and is committed to building collegial, collaborative and inclusive research environments that enable ambitious, curiosity-driven science.

Dr Shuhui Cai is a professor at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She studies the evolution of the Earth’s and Moon’s magnetic fields and their underlying dynamo processes. Her research integrates archaeomagnetism, paleointensity reconstruction, and planetary magnetism, with a focus on the long-term evolution of the geomagnetic field and the lunar magnetic field. She constructed a Holocene geomagnetic reference curve and a regional field model for East Asia, identifying episodes of abrupt geomagnetic variation. She further revealed a geomagnetic low anomaly in Southeast Asia and proposed that magnetic flux expulsion at the core–mantle boundary may be widespread at low latitudes, providing new constraints on core–mantle boundary structure and geodynamo simulations. In addition, she obtained key evidence for the operational state of the lunar dynamo during the Moon’s middle evolutionary stage. Her results suggest that after an early rapid decline, the lunar magnetic field may have rebounded around 2.8 Ga, and that a weak magnetic field still existed at ~2.0 Ga, thereby revising the prevailing framework of lunar magnetic field evolution. Her work has been published in leading journals, including Nature, Science Advances, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr Cai has served as Principal Investigator and key contributor on multiple projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). She received the Fu Chengyi Young Scientist Award from the Chinese Geophysical Society in 2019. In 2020, she was named a core member of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Innovative Talent Promotion Program in the key area of “Geomagnetic Field Evolution and Its Applications.” In 2022, she was a key contributor to the team awarded the CAS Prize for Outstanding Scientific and Technological Achievement for research on the biological effects of geomagnetic field variations. More recently, she was selected for the “Phoenix Program” Outstanding Young Talent Award (Beijing, 2024), received the inaugural Tengchong Young Scientist Award (2025), and was honoured with the Tan Kah Kee Young Scientist Award (2026). She currently serves on the editorial working group of National Science Review and as a Youth Editorial Board Member of Earth and Planetary Physics.

Professor in Geodynamics at the University of Oslo and founding Director of two Norwegian Centers of Excellence, the Center for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED: 2013-2023) and the Center for Planetary Habitability (PHAB: 2023-2033). Torsvik is an expert in paleomagnetism, Earth History, paleogeography, plate tectonics and mantle dynamics. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy and awarded the prestigious Wollaston Medal (Geological Society London) in 2024, the Fridjof Nansen Medal (Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters) in 2017, and the Arthur Holmes Medal (European Union of Geosciences) in 2016 among various other awards and prizes. He has written more than 250 articles and one book - Earth History and Palaeogeography (Cambridge University Press, 2017) - which received the PROSE Award in 2018 for best Earth Sciences book.