Rebecca Ghent
Senior Scientist
Department of planetary Sciences
Planetary Science Institute
New Zealand
Biography
Dr. Ghent received her PhD in Geology from Southern Methodist University in 2002, studying tectonic structures in Venusian crustal plateaus. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the National Air and Space Museum. Before joining PSI in 2011, she was a professor of Geology at the University of Toronto, a position she continues to maintain. Dr. Ghent is a member of the science team of the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Diviner thermal mapper and is also a science team member on the OSIRIS-REx laser altimeter.
Research Interest
Dr. Rebecca Ghent is interested in geological processes on the terrestrial planets at a number of spatial scales. Her work in lunar geology has focused on understanding the physical properties of the lunar regolith, and the ways in which impact crater ejecta contribute to regolith formation and evolution. She studies both brittle and ductile tectonic deformation at a variety of scales, and on various planets. Previous work has involved analysis of complexly deformed terrain characteristic of highland plateaus on Venus using both photogeologic analysis and numerical modeling.
