ProfessorMarina Galand

I am a Professor in Planetary Science in the Department of Physics at Imperial College London, interested in planetary atmospheres throughout the Solar System. My prime focus is the deposition of energy, its redistribution, and its impact through the production of auroral emissions - which can be used as a remote sensing tool of the energy source and a fingerprint of the atmospheric consitituants - and the formation of a critical plasma layer - the so-called ionosphere - which plays a key role in space weather. My modelling activity is undertaken in close link with space missions (e.g., Cassini-Huygens, Rosetta, Juice, Comet Interceptor), in preparation of operations, interpreting observations, and optimising the scientific return. I led the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC) Enhanced Archiving Activity for a full exploitation of the Rosetta dataset. I am now leading the magnetometer on probe B2 of the next ESA mission to a comet, Comet Interceptor, whose target comet has not yet been discovered!

Member, Space, Plasma & Climate Community

Member, Space & Atmospheric Physics

Member, Imperial Space Lab.

Interest: Energy deposition, redistribution & impact in atmospheres of planets, moons, & comets, Planetary plasma environment, Aurora in the Solar System.

I have previously worked at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) [where I held an Advanced Study Program Postdoctoral Fellowship], at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) [where I held a National Research Council Resident Research Associateship], and at Boston University [as Senior Research Associate]. I was awarded: the COSPAR Zeldovich Medal (2006), Holweck IoP-SFP Medal & Prize (2018), and the RAS James Dungey Lectureship (2023). At Imperial, I was awarded: the Elsie Widdowson Fellowship (2008), Faculty of Natural Sciences Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2015), and the Faculty of Natural Sciences Prize for Excellence in Personal Tutoring & Pastoral Support (2019). While I highly value enriching and stimulating research collaborations in the UK, Europe and beyond, I pride my research team, including Research Fellow [Arnaud Beth] and all my past and current PhD students [Joshua Chadney, Kevin Héritier, Gianluca Carnielli, Pete Stephenson, Zoë Lewis, and Victor Steinwand]. 

I have been enjoying sharing my research with the public and inspiring the next generation of scientists through engagement activities at The Royal Institution of Great Britain (2025), Space weekender at the London Science Museum (2025), Great Exhibition Road Festival (2024, 2025), and Imperial Lates (2022, 2023), among others, or via Women on Wednesdays interview (2026).