Véronique Dehant

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Véronique Dehant

| image = Veronique Dehant (cropped).jpg

| caption = Dehant in 2016

| alma_mater = Université Catholique de Louvain (BS, MS, PHD)

| workplaces = {{Plainlist|

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| awards = Descartes Prize (2003)
Charles A. Whitten Medal (2016)

| field = {{Plainlist|

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| website = {{URL|http://homepage.oma.be/veroniq/}}

}}

Véronique Dehant is a Belgian geodesist and geophysicist. She specializes in

modeling the deformation of the Earth's interior in response to the planet's rotation and the gravitational forces exerted upon it by the Sun and Moon. She has used similar techniques to study Mercury, Venus, Mars and the icy

satellites of the outer planets.{{Cite web|url=https://www.astro.oma.be/en/veronique-dehant-doctor-honoris-causa-paris-observatory/|title=Véronique Dehant, Doctor Honoris Causa of the Paris Observatory|website=www.astro.oma.be}}

She primarily works at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, but also serves as an

Extraordinary Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain.

Early life and education

Dehant was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1959. She received all her degrees, in mathematics and physics, from the Université Catholique de Louvain, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1981, followed by a master's degree in 1982 and a doctorate in 1986.{{cn|date=December 2020}}

Research and career

Initially, Dehant's research focused on better understanding the rotation of the Earth in space (precession

and nutation). She developed models that take into account the structure and interfaces of the Earth, including effects of Earth tides and core resonances.{{Cite web|url=https://eos.org/agu-news/veronique-dehant-receives-2016-charles-a-whitten-medal|title=Veronique Dehant Receives 2016 Charles A. Whitten Medal|website=Eos|date=29 December 2016 }}

This work led to a new and more accurate reference model for the Earth's rotation.

Her research group was rewarded for this work with the 300,000 Euro Descartes Prize

in 2003.{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/home/en|title=Press corner|website=European Commission – European Commission}}

Dehant is a co-investigator on the NASA RISE (Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment) and SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) projects,{{Cite web |title=Instrument Teams |date=16 October 2018 |work=Mars InSight Mission |publisher=NASA |url=https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/teams/instrument-teams |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713223500/https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/teams/instrument-teams/ |archivedate=13 July 2019}} which are being hosted by the InSight mission to Mars.{{Cite web|url=https://mars.nasa.gov/insight|title=NASA's InSight Mars Lander|website=NASA's InSight Mars Lander|date=4 December 2017 }} The RISE team will use Doppler measurements to determine the rotation and position of Mars in space. This provides information about the structure of the deep interior of Mars.{{Cite web|url=https://uclouvain.be/en/sciencetoday/news/mars-sur-le-point-de-reveler-son-interieur.html|title=Mars, about to reveal its inner side | UCLouvain|website=uclouvain.be}}

Dehant's work has been widely recognized. In 2003 she received the European Geosciences Union geodesy prize, known as the Vening-Meinesz Medal.{{Cite web|url=https://www.egu.eu/awards-medals/vening-meinesz/2003/veronique-dehant|title=Veronique Dehant|website=European Geosciences Union (EGU)}} She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union{{Cite web|url=https://honors.agu.org/fellows/fellows-alpha-list/|title=Fellows Alphabetical List|website=Honors Program}} and a foreign member of the French Academy of Sciences.{{Cite web|url=https://www.academie-sciences.fr/fr/Liste-des-membres-de-l-Academie-des-sciences-/-D/veronique-dehant.html|title=Véronique Dehant | Liste des membres de l'Académie des sciences / D | Listes par ordre alphabétique | Listes des membres | Membres | Nous connaître|website=www.academie-sciences.fr}} In 2016 she received the Whitten medal from the American Geophysical Union.{{cite web |last1=AGU |title=Veronique Dehant Receives 2016 Charles A. Whitten Medal |date=29 December 2016 |url=https://eos.org/agu-news/veronique-dehant-receives-2016-charles-a-whitten-medal |publisher=EOS |accessdate=13 July 2019}} This award is given for "outstanding achievement in research on the form and dynamics of the Earth and planets".

Awards and honors

1988: Charles Lagrange Prize{{Cite web|url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Dehant_V%C3%A9ronique|title=Academy of Europe: Dehant Véronique|website=www.ae-info.org}}
2003: Vening-Meinesz Medal, European Geosciences Union{{Cite web|url=https://www.egu.eu/awards-medals/vening-meinesz/2003/veronique-dehant/|title=Veronique Dehant|website=European Geosciences Union (EGU)}}
2003: Descartes Prize of the European Union
2007: Fellow of the American Geophysical Union
2014: Honorary Doctorate, Observatory of Paris {{Cite web|url=https://www.obspm.fr/the-paris-observatory-awards.html?lang=en|title=The Paris Observatory awards its Doctor Honoris Causa for 2014 – Observatoire de Paris – PSL Centre de recherche en astronomie et astrophysique|website=www.obspm.fr|date=27 November 2014 }}
2015: Foreign Member, French Academy of Sciences
2016: Charles A. Whitten Medal

Books

V. Dehant and P.M. Mathews, Precession, Nutation, and Wobble of the Earth, Cambridge University Press, 536 pages, April 2015, {{ISBN|9781107092549}}.