Research Opportunities
Scientific Advisory Committee
Dr. Christian Koeberl
Dr. Christian Koeberl is full professor of geosciences (planetary geology) at the University of Vienna, where he is the currently head of the Department of Lithospheric Research, and from 2010 to 2020 he was the director general of the Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria. He is a full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, where he also heads the Committee on Geosciences. Dr. Koeberl studied chemistry, physics, and astronomy at the Technical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna, and obtained his Ph.D. in 1983 at the University of Graz. His main research interests are meteorite impact craters, meteorites, and geo- and cosmochemistry, as well as the early Earth and planetary geology. He received the Barringer Medal from the Meteoritical Society in 2007.
His publication record includes over 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers; asteroid 15963 is named in his honor “Koeberl.”
Dr. Gordon Osinski
Dr. Gordon Osinski (Oz), a professor of Planetary Geology at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, is one of the top impact crater scientists in the world. His research focuses on how meteorite impacts have shaped the surface of the Earth and other planetary bodies and how they may have played an important role in the origin and evolution of life. He is a Co-Investigator on the PanCam instrument on the European ExoMars mission to Mars and in November 2022 was named as Principal Investigator of the Canadian Lunar Rover Mission – Canada’s first ever rover mission to the Moon. He was also selected by NASA in 2023 to be part of the Geology Team for the Artemis III mission, and is currently developing plans to train astronauts at the Barringer Meteorite Crater. Dr. Osinski teaches a class on impact crater processes at Western University and has written the textbook Impact Cratering: Processes and Products. He received the Barringer Medal from the Meteoritical Society in 2021 and has mentored several recipients of Barringer Family Fund grants.
Dr. Carolyn Crow
Dr. Caroyln Crow is an Assistant Professor of Geological Reserach at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is a cosmochemist and planetary scientist. Her research focuses on understanding the evolution of planetary crusts through geochemical analyses of samples. She has worked with samples ranging from lunar rocks returned by the Apollo astronauts, Martian meteorites, and samples from the Vredefort impact basin in South Africa. In the next decade, multiple missions will return samples from asteroids, the Moon, and Mars. Analyses of these materials will lead to ground breaking discoveries about our closest planetary neighbors and are bound to revolutionize how we think about our place in the solar system. Part of her research also supports Nuclear Forensics projects in support of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Independent Research On-Site
The Barringer Crater Company believes that ongoing research of impact cratering processes and associated phenomena is critically important to growing and sharing scientific knowledge and public understanding of meteoritics and planetary science, specifically impact cratering and its enormous effects on planetary bodies. We are committed, therefore, to providing appropriate and responsible access to The Barringer Meteorite Crater and its surrounding ejecta blanket and terrain, approximately defined by the area of the crater and its immediate surroundings, for such study. To submit a research request, please review our Field Research Guidelines and then submit a summary of your proposed research at the form below.
Once research has been approved, a password will be provided which allows access to our Liability Waiver and Rim Trail Map.
Impact Cratering and Associated Research United States (ICAARUS)
Workshop: May 31- June 1, 2025, Flagstaff, AZ
The Barringer Crater Company is hosting a 2-day workshop in Flagstaff (and at Meteor Crater) to promote interdisciplinary impact crater science in the US.
The goal of ICAARUS is to reinvigorate impact cratering research in the United States by assessing the current state of impact crater research as well as the funding landscape, and to strategize ways to support a sustained impact cratering community. This workshop will be the first in a series that will consider outstanding scientific problems in impact cratering in order to generate creative interdisciplinary research and collaboration. This workshop is open to impact crater scientists with the focus on field work, laboratory work, modeling, astrobiology, analogues, and more! As part of their initiative to increase impact cratering research, The Barringer Crater Company is proud to host ICAARUS 2025 and fund participants’ travel to Flagstaff.
TO ALL INTERESTED SCIENTISTS: Please submit an application below, due January 15th, 2025. Responses will be sent by the organizing committee by February 1st, 2025. For more information, contact: Dr. Steven Jaret (sjaret@amnh.org) or Dr. Carolyn Crow (carolyn.crow@colorado.edu)
