麻豆直播

Professor Gretchen Benedix is unlocking the secrets of our universe one space rock at a time.   

麻豆直播鈥檚 Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research has always been intrigued by space, but like the rocks she studies, she kind of crash-landed into planetary science.  

鈥淚 started out as a psychology major because it seemed like the right path for me at the time. But I鈥檝e always had questions about why we鈥檙e here and how we fit into the solar system. I just didn鈥檛 realise I could turn this interest into a career,鈥� Professor Benedix said.

鈥淪o, I dabbled in some astronomy classes. And then physics. And before I knew it, I was firing hydrogen ions at rock samples in a lab!鈥�

This detour has led to a stellar career, taking her from hunting for meteorites in Antarctica to being the first to map the entire surface of Mars with AI. She even has an asteroid named after her that鈥檚 currently orbiting somewhere between Mars and Jupiter.  

鈥楽pace rocks are cool鈥�

For Professor Benedix, there鈥檚 nothing more exciting than tracking down a rock that鈥檚 travelled across the cosmos.

And as part of Curtin鈥檚 Desert Fireball Network, she gets to do just that. It鈥檚 one of the reasons she relocated to Australia with her family.

鈥淎ustralia is a meteorite hunter鈥檚 dream,鈥� Professor Benedix said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 vast, flat and has very little vegetation for space rocks to hide, especially out in the Nullarbor Plain where our camera network is set up.鈥�

鈥淭he cameras take images of the sky every night and alert us when a piece of space rock has landed on Earth.鈥�

鈥淭hen I come in and figure out where it鈥檚 from and what it can tell us. And they can tell us a lot.鈥�  

Professor Benedix鈥檚 research on space rocks has helped us better understand the very building blocks of our solar system and how its evolution continues to shape Earth. By analysing meteorites and asteroid compositions, she is piecing together how our planets form and evolve.  

鈥淭he Earth isn鈥檛 an isolated system. It鈥檚 part of this huge cosmic network that is constantly interacting with asteroids, meteorites, and space debris,鈥� Professor Benedix said.

鈥淯nderstanding those interactions helps us figure out where we came from and what might happen to us in the future.鈥�  

鈥淲e know asteroids hit Earth all the time, and while most are tiny and harmless, some could be real trouble.鈥�

 鈥淚t鈥檚 not Hollywood-style disaster stuff, but having the right data means we can actually prepare for potential impacts.鈥�

Automating crater detection

But her research isn鈥檛 just about looking at what鈥檚 coming towards Earth.

Professor Benedix鈥檚 research has helped inform the world鈥檚 largest Mars crater database using a machine learning algorithm.  

By training the algorithm to recognise craters using images, Professor Benedix and her team have been able to map more than ninety million impact craters on the red planet. They鈥檝e even been able to identify the origin of 鈥楤lack Beauty鈥� 鈥� the most famous Martian meteorite to land on Earth.

鈥淲e鈥檝e automated what used to be a painstakingly manual process down to seconds.鈥� 

鈥淣obody鈥檚 ever done this at this scale before,鈥� Professor Benedix said.

鈥淲ith this algorithm, we鈥檝e started to unravel the geological history of Mars and, one day this dataset might help answer questions like when water last flowed on the surface of Mars. It鈥檚 data that could even help NASA on their next Mars mission.鈥�

鈥淲e can also use it to understand how other planetary surfaces evolve over time, including Earth鈥檚 and even the Moon.鈥�

鈥淚 mean, who doesn鈥檛 want to know more about the Moon?!鈥�

Promoting STEM  

When she鈥檚 not on a hunt for space rocks, Professor Benedix dedicates her time to promoting STEM through science outreach programs. But she鈥檒l admit 鈥� she has a particular affinity towards planetary sciences.

鈥淚 know there are kids out there who have burning questions about our place in the universe, just as I had, and I want them to feed their curiosity and also to know there鈥檚 a career to be made of it.鈥�

As she balances research, leadership, and mentoring, one thing remains constant鈥攈er love for finding answers to big questions.  

Whether it鈥檚 uncovering the secrets of Mars or helping the next generation of scientists find their passion, she鈥檚 proof that sometimes the best discoveries come from taking the scenic 鈥� or rather 鈥� the cosmic route.

Professor Benedix was appointed Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research last year after being in the role on an interim basis since June 2023.

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