Thérèse Encrenaz (née Gounon, born 1946) is a French

planetary scientist Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their ...

who "played a leading role in the development of planetology in Europe". Her research concerns

extraterrestrial atmosphere The study of extraterrestrial atmospheres is an active field of research, both as an aspect of astronomy and to gain insight into Earth's atmosphere. In addition to Earth, many of the other astronomical objects in the Solar System have atmosphe ...

s, particularly of the planets and comets in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

. She is a research director for the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

, emeritus, affiliated with the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...

Education and career

Encrenaz was born on March 10, 1946. After studies at the ,

Goddard Institute for Space Studies The Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) is a laboratory in the Earth Sciences Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center affiliated with the Columbia University Earth Institute. The institute is located at Columbia University in Ne ...

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, and

, she earned a

diplôme d'études approfondies A Master of Advanced Studies (MASt or MAS), or Master of Advanced Study, is a postgraduate degree awarded in various countries. Master of Advanced Studies programs may be non-consecutive programs tailored for "specific groups of working professio ...

in 1968, a

doctorat de troisième cycle A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in 1969, and, in 1975, a doctorat d'état. As a director of research for the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

(CNRS) at the Paris Observatory, she headed the DESPA and LESIA laboratories, and became vice-president of the observatory, before retiring as research director emeritus. She was editor-in-chief of the journal ''

Planetary and Space Science ''Planetary and Space Science'' (P&SS), published 15 times per year, is a peer-reviewed scientific journal established in 1959. It publishes original research articles along with short communications (letters). The main topic is Solar System proc ...

'' from 2002 to 2007.

Recognition

Encrenaz is the namesake of asteroid 5443 Encrenaz, discovered in 1991. She is the recipient of the 1998

CNRS Silver Medal The CNRS Silver Medal is a scientific award given every year to about fifteen researchers by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). It is awarded to a researcher for "the originality, quality and importance of their work, re ...

, the 2007

Prix Jules Janssen The Prix Jules Janssen is the highest award of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society. This annual prize is given to a professional French astronomer or to an astronomer of another nationality in recognition ...

of the

Société astronomique de France The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the France, French astronomical society, is a non-profit association in the public interest organized under French law (Association loi de 1901). Founded by astronomer Camille Flammarion in 1887, its ...

, the 2010 David Bates Medal of the European Geosciences Union, the 2014 Prix Deslandres of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

, and the 2021 Gerard P. Kuiper Prize of the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

. She was elected to the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

in 2002. She was named a chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 2009, and an officier in 2019.

Books

Encrenaz is the author or editor of many books on planetology including: *''The Solar System'' (with Jean-Pierre Bibring, Intereditions/CNRS, 1987; translated into English by S. Dunlop, Springer, 1990) *''Infrared Astronomy with ISO'' (with M. F. Kessler, Nova, 1992) *''Comet Science: The Study of Remnants from the Birth of the Solar System'' (with Jacques Crovisier, Belin/CNRS, 1995; translated into English by Stephen Lyle, Cambridge University Press, 2000) *''The Outer Planets and their Moons: Comparative Studies of the Outer Planets prior to the Exploration of the Saturn System by Cassini-Huygens'' (with R. Kallenbach, Tobias Owen, and Christophe Sotin, Springer, 2005) *''Searching for Water in the Universe'' (Springer, 2006) *''The New Worlds: Extrasolar Planets'' (with Fabienne Casoli, Springer, 2007) *''Planetary Systems: Detection, Formation and Habitability of Extrasolar Planets'' (with Marc Ollivier, Françoise Roques, Franck Selsis, and Fabienne Casoli, Springer, 2009) *''Life beyond Earth: The Search for Habitable Worlds in the Universe'' (with Athena Coustenis, Cambridge University Press, 2013) *''Planets: Ours and Others; from Earth to Exoplanets'' (World Scientific, 2013) *''The Exoplanets Revolution'' (with James Lequeux and Fabienne Casoli, EDP Sciences, 2020) *''Planets and Life'' (with James Lequeux and Fabienne Casoli, EDP Sciences, 2021)

Personal life

Encrenaz is married to Pierre Encrenaz, who is also an astronomer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Encrenaz, Therese 1946 births Living people French planetary scientists Women planetary scientists French women scientists French women astronomers Officers of the Legion of Honour Members of Academia Europaea Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research