Note that the application period for this award has closed.
The Nininger Meteorite Award recognizes outstanding student achievement in the meteoritical sciences as embodied by an original research paper. Papers must cover original research conducted by the student and must have been written, submitted, or published between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2024.
Applicants must be the first, but not sole, author of the paper and must have been enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at an educational institution in the United States at the time the paper was written, submitted, or published.
The Nininger Award recipient receives $2,000 and an engraved plaque commemorating the honor.
Recipients will present their paper in an online seminar hosted by the Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies.
Applications will be considered by an independent review panel of field experts. The application deadline is midnight (MST) April 30, 2025.
Nininger Meteorite Award application form
History of the Award
Permitted topics
The original text of the Nininger endowment states that the “Science of Meteoritics embraces all aspects of the study of inert natural matter existing in space, passing through the atmosphere, or having come to Earth from space, together with any or all of the phenomena occasioned by its fall and its effect upon the Earth or upon any other member of the Solar System. Such science shall also be considered to include theoretical consideration as to the origin of such matter and special relationships”. Research topics covered under this description include, but are not limited to, physical and chemical properties of meteorites, origin of meteoritic material and cratering. Observational, experimental, statistical or theoretical investigations are allowed.
Eligibility Requirements
- Applicants must have been enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at an educational institution in the United States at the time the paper was written, submitted, or published. Overseas students visiting US institutions who are not enrolled at that institution are not eligible.
- The student must be first author of the paper, but does not have to be the sole author.
- Paper must cover original research conducted by the student, and have been written, submitted or published between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2024.
Application
2023-24 Nininger Meteorite Award Winners
We are pleased to announce that Maizey Benner, a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Arizona is the recipient of the 2023-24 Nininger Meteorite Award, and Daniel Sheikh, a Ph.D. candidate at Portland State University received an Honorable Mention for the award.
Maizey’s paper “Microstructural analysis of phosphorus (P)-bearing assemblages in type 3 chondrites: Implications for P condensation and processing in the early solar nebula” addresses the chemical behavior of phosphorous in chondritic meteorites and in samples returned by the Hayabusa2 mission. She has been using a combination of electron- and ion-beam techniques in the Kuiper-Arizona Laboratory for Astromaterials Analysis (K-ALFAA) to study P-bearing materials in petrologic type-1 through type-3 carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites, and thermodynamic modeling and density functional theory to better understand the materials formation conditions. Maizey’s results show that the major P carriers in petrologic type-3 chondrites are merrillite, schreibersite, and P-bearing metal that likely formed through a combination of melt crystallization and vapor-phase condensation in the early solar system. Her work includes a new thermodynamic description of the schreibersite solid solution, which reveals a miscibility gap between Ni-rich schreibersite and Ni3P.
Photo: Nininger Meteorite Awardee Maizey Benner
Sheik’s paper, “Ground truth” occurrence of Pink Spinel Anorthosite (PSA) as clasts in lunar meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 15500: Chemical evidence for a genetic relationship with lunar highlands Mg-suite and formation by magma–wallrock interactions” provides strong evidence for secondary magmatic processes on the Moon, after the establishment of the anorthositic crust. An interaction is required between the anorthositic crust and a magnesian melt component, likely Mg-suite-magma rich in olivine.
Photo: Daniel Sheikh, Nininger Meteorite Award Honorable Mention
