Cross-post: Kiana McFadden is the 2023 DPS-NSBP Speaker Awardee

ByTheodore Kareta, DPS Press Officer

Kiana McFadden

Within the partnership between The Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), Earth and Planetary Systems Sciences (EPSS) section, we recognize Kiana McFadden as the newest DPS-NSBP Speaker Awardee. Kiana is a PhD student in planetary science at the University of Arizona, specializing in the study of small body surfaces. She is currently working with Dr. Amy Mainzer for the study of mainbelt asteroids, using images acquired by the Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) and Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescopes.

Kiana McFadden’s award-winning talk at the NSBP Fall 2023 meeting, entitled “Size and Albedo Constraints for (152830) Dinkinesh Using WISE Data,” described work that was critical for helping the NASA Lucy mission plan their November 2023 encounter with this small main-belt asteroid.

Read about Kiana's research at

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/lucy/data-from-nasas-wise-used-to-preview-lucy-missions-asteroid-dinkinesh/

DPS is thrilled to invite Kiana McFadden to speak at the 2024 DPS meeting, which will be held in

Boise, Idaho, USA and virtually. 

Learn about and register for the 2024 DPS meeting at

https://dps.aas.org/meetings/future

Read more about the DPS-NSBP award at

https://dps.aas.org/news/2024-dps-nsbp-speaker-awardee-kiana-mcfadden/