PTYS/LPL Research Scientists
Zoë Wilbur
Researcher/Scientist
Zoë Wilbur is a Researcher/Scientist III in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. She manages the Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) and Raman laboratories, where she maintains the instrumentation, trains users, and supports researchers across disciplines in analyzing samples at the micro- and nanoscale. Her research focuses on secondary processes, including aqueous alteration, metasomatism, and volcanism, and how these processes modify the volatile inventories of planetary bodies. Zoë studies samples returned by the Apollo and OSIRIS-REx missions, as well as meteorites, with an emphasis on aubrites. By characterizing the mineralogy, chemistry, and microstructure of these materials, she reconstructs their histories to understand how volatiles were retained, redistributed, or lost across the early Solar System.
[13] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2026) A non-Vestan, eucrite-like pyroxene grain from asteroid (101955) Bennu. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 695, p.120296.
[12] Huss, G.R., Nagashima, K., [...] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2026) Oxygen isotope thermometry and composition of aqueous fluids within the parent body of asteroid (101955) Bennu. Meteoritics & Planetary Science.
[11] Righter, K., [...] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2026) Mineralogy, mineral chemistry, and redox equilibria in ten aggregate particles from asteroid Bennu. Meteoritics & Planetary Science.
[10] Benner, M. C., [...] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2026). A window into the early stages of aqueous alteration from mackinawite in samples of asteroid Bennu. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.
[9] Wilbur Z. E., et al. (2025). Two slowly cooled and chemically diverse basalt clasts identified in ANGSA core 73001. Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets. 130 (9), 1-21.
[8] Barnes, J. J., Nguyen, A. N., […] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2025) The variety and origin of materials accreted by Bennu’s parent asteroid. Nature Astronomy, pp.1-18.
[7] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2025) Evaluating the crystallization and eruptive histories of low-titanium basalts with 2D and 3D studies. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 389, pp.110-124.
[6] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2024). The formation of volatile-bearing djerfisherite in reduced meteorites. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 59(9), pp.2373-2387.
[5] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2023) Volatiles, vesicles, and vugs: Unraveling the magmatic and eruptive histories of Steno crater basalts. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 58(11), pp.1600-1628.
[4] Gignac, P. M., […] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2024) The Non-Clinical Tomography Users Research Network: Why it Matters. Journal of Tomography of Materials and Structures.
[3] Ramsey, S. R., [...] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2024) Northwest Africa 13669, a reequilibrated nakhlite from a previously unsampled portion of the nakhlite igneous complex. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 59(1), pp.134-170.
[2] Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2022) The effects of highly reduced magmatism revealed through aubrites. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 57(7), pp.1387-1420.
[1] Udry, A., Wilbur, Z. E., et al. (2019) Reclassification of four aubrites as enstatite chondrite impact melts: Potential geochemical analogs for Mercury. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 54(4), pp.785-810.
- Asteroid (14809) Zoewilbur
- “USC and UA Students are Developing an AR Interface to Inform Lunar Astronauts of Location, Vitals” by USC Viterbi Staff, USC
- “A Rockin’ Time for Space Missions” by Katherine Wright; Physics
- “Sweating the small stuff: UArizona scientists have begun to study samples from asteroid Bennu” by Daniel Stolte, University Communications.
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