Perianne Johnson
I am a Pluto climate scientist! Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics in Autsin, TX. I investigate how Pluto's climate and atmosphere are coupled to its surface ices and how they have varied with time over the age of the solar system. I have used numerical modeling along with observations from NASA's New Horizons mission to do this work, alongside my PhD advisor Dr. Leslie Young (SwRI). Additionally, I am broadly interested in the icy and ocean worlds of the outer solar system. You can read more about what I do here.
Recent News
In March 2024, the IAU announced that main-belt asteroid 2001 RH155 had been named in my honor! You can see details about asteroid Perijohnson here.
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In September 2023, I began my tenure as a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics in Austin!
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In March 2023, I successfully defended my PhD dissertation!! You can find a copy of my complete dissertation here.
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In May 2023, I was awarded a PhD in Astrophysics and Planetary Science from the University of Colorado Boulder.​
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In May 2022, I was awarded the Ray Mace Smith Graduate Fellowship by the Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences department at CU Boulder. This award recognizes excellence in research.
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In February 2022, I competed in the Three Minute Thesis competition at University of Colorado, and received the second place award! You can watch my presentation here (my talk starts at 34:17).
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In October 2021, my research on the past episode of True Polar Wander on Pluto and its effect on Pluto's ancient climate was featured in a Physics magazine story. You can read the story here, and check out the journal article about this research as well!
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