Dennis Bodewits

Dennis Bodewits is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Auburn University. His research spans comets, asteroids, and small bodies in the solar system, with a focus on their observable gas emissions and interactions with solar wind. He utilizes space telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, and Neil Gehrels-Swift Observatory, alongside laboratory astrophysics experiments and planetary mission data (Rosetta, EPOXI, Stardust-NExT).

• Education: Ph.D. in Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Groningen (2007); M.Sc. in Astrophysics and Experimental Physics, University of Groningen (2003)
• Notable Awards: Minor planet (10033) named 'Bodewits' by IAU (2017); multiple NASA Group Achievement Awards (2015, 2011); Dean’s Faculty Research Award (2023)
• Research Highlights: Discovery of electron impact reactions as dominant cometary coma processes; development of experimental setups for charge exchange reaction characterization; leadership in Hubble and NICER observations of cometary X-ray emissions.
• Collaborations: International partnerships with Comenius University (Slovakia), European Southern Observatory (Chile), NASA missions.

His recent publications emphasize exocomet detection, interstellar comet composition, and electron-molecule collision diagnostics.

Scientific Awards include:

• Dean’s Award for Outstanding Faculty Undergraduate Mentor (2024)
• Auburn University Endowed Alumni Professor (2023-2028)
• NASA Group Achievement Awards (2015, 2011)
• Van Swinderen Thesis Prize (2007)

Advising includes graduate and undergraduate researchers like Thomas Deskins, Shawn Oset, and Ben Lightfoot. His lab group, the Auburn Comet Research Group, combines observational, experimental, and computational approaches to understand cometary evolution and plasma interactions.