Gareth Collins

Professor Gareth Collins is a leading planetary scientist at Imperial College London's Department of Earth Science & Engineering, part of the Faculty of Engineering. He specializes in impact cratering processes, planetary dynamics, and asteroid defense, with affiliations to the Impacts and Astromaterials Research Centre and the Space Lab. His work combines numerical modeling (e.g., iSALE code) with observational data from missions like NASA's InSight and ESA's Hera. Key achievements include:

• Education: PhD in Geology (Imperial College London, 2002), BSc Geophysics (University of Liverpool, 1998).
• Grants: NERC Advanced Research Fellowship (2007–2012), NERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2004–2007).
• Leadership: Co-Investigator on NASA's InSight Mission, member of the ESA Hera Impact Working Group.

Research Focus:

• Impact crater formation mechanisms on terrestrial planets and moons.
• Martian seismic activity linked to meteoroid impacts (via InSight data).
• Planetary defense via kinetic impactor missions (e.g., DART).
• Analysis of meteorite samples like the Winchcombe fireball.

Recent Work:

• Confirmed impact events on Mars using seismic data.
• Characterized asteroid Dimorphos's physical properties post-DART.
• Studied the Chicxulub crater's role in the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction.

Awards:

• 2022 Barringer Medal from the Meteoritical Society.
• Asteroid (31358) named Garethcollins in 2023.

Labs/Teams:

• Leads the Global Fireball Observatory tracking meteor events.
• Contributes to the UK Fireball Network.