Ludovic Ferrière (born October 21, 1982) is a French

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and curator of the meteorite collection and of the impactite collection at the

Natural History Museum, Vienna The Natural History Museum Vienna () is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museums and non-university research institutions in Austria and an important center of excellence for all matt ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. He is known for his research on

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

impact craters An impact crater is a depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters typically ...

Early life and career

Born in

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the mos ...

on October 21, 1982, Ferrière developed an early interest in

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

s and

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): M ...

. At the

University of Tours The University of Tours (), formerly François Rabelais University of Tours (), is a public university in Tours, France. Founded in 1969, the university was formerly named after the French writer François Rabelais. It is the largest university ...

(France), his passion for meteorite impact cratering was really born, so he spent a year at the University Laval (Quebec, Canada) to study geology and explore nearby craters during his spare time. Returning to France he did a one-year course on Planetology at the

University of Nantes Nantes University () is a public university located in the city of Nantes, France. In addition to the several campuses scattered in the city of Nantes, there are two satellite campuses located in Saint-Nazaire and La Roche-sur-Yon. The university ...

. Then, he completed a Master in

Planetology 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 ...

at the

Pierre and Marie Curie University Pierre and Marie Curie University ( , UPMC), also known as Paris VI, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, ...

in Paris (France), and learnt about meteorites at the

Museum of Natural History A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

. He finally completed his PhD thesis in Vienna (Austria) in 2009, on the geological and geochemical aspects of impactites from the Bosumtwi crater (

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

), before to move again to Canada for his postdoctoral researches on

shatter cones Shatter cones are rare geological features that are only known to form in the bedrock beneath meteorite impact craters or underground nuclear explosions. They are evidence that the rock has been subjected to a shock with pressures in the ran ...

and associated shock-induced microdeformations in minerals (at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

, London). Ferrière is the curator of the prestigious meteorite collection and of the

impactite Impactite is rock created or modified by one or more impacts of a meteorite. Impactites are considered metamorphic rock, because their source materials were modified by the heat and pressure of the impact. On Earth, impactites consist primarily ...

collection at the Natural History Museum Vienna.

Research

Ferrière's research activities mainly center around the investigation of meteorites and impact craters. Together with colleagues, he contributed to the discovery and confirmation of five meteorite impact craters (i.e.,

Keurusselkä crater Keurusselkä is a lake in Central Finland between the towns of Keuruu to the north and Mänttä to the south. It covers an area of . Its average depth is with a maximum depth of . The surface lies at above sea level. The lake is long and is a ...

in Finland.,

Luizi crater Luizi is a meteorite impact structure that lies on the Kundelungu Plateau of Haut-Katanga Province, Haut-Katanga province, in an underexplored region of southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The crater, ~17 kilometer in diameter, is visibl ...

in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Hummeln crater in Sweden, Yallalie crater in Australia, and Nova Colinas in Brazil ) and has also discovered and classified a number of meteorites (found in e.g., Egypt, Uruguay, Northwest Africa). In the framework of expeditions, Ferrière has explored a number of confirmed and possible (not yet confirmed) impact craters all around the Earth. Some of his expeditions, in more or less remote areas of the Earth, in his search for possible new meteorite impact craters and meteorites, were supported by

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

– Waitt Grants. One that was largely featured in the media took place in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

where Ferrière discovered and confirmed the impact origin of the

Ferrière is author and co-author of over 115 peer-reviewed research publications, over 250 abstracts presented at international conferences, and of a book on meteorites.

Awards and honors

* 2006 – Student Travel Award (Östersund workshop, Sweden) * 2006 – Student Travel Award (69th MetSoc Meeting, Switzerland) * 2007 – Student Travel Award (Kobe International School, Japan) * 2007 – Barringer Student Travel Award (70th MetSoc Meeting, Arizona)^ * 2007 – LPI Student Travel Award (Bridging the Gap II workshop, Canada) * 2008 – Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research * 2008 – Student Travel Award (LMI IV Meeting, South Africa) * 2009 – Barringer Student Travel Award (72nd Metsoc Meeting, France) * 2013 – Paneth Meteorite Trust Award * 2023 – Asteroid (227928) named "Ludoferrière"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrière, Ludovic French geologists 1982 births Scientists from Blois University of Tours alumni Pierre and Marie Curie University alumni Living people