Recent PTYS graduate Michelle Thompson received the Stephen E. Dwornik Planetary Geoscience Student Paper Award at the 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (March 2016). Michelle was recognized for Best Graduate Oral presentation for talk titled, "Simulation of micrometeorite impacts through in situ dynamic heating of lunar soil.”

The Dwornik competition is competitive, with 134 presentations considered this year. Michelle received honorable mention for her talk at the 2014 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference ("Nanoscale analysis of space-weathering features in soils from Itokawa").

Michelle defended her dissertation in May and is currently a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow (RA) at Johnson Space Center.