A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa graduate has joined a long list of notable scientists in the ARCS Foundation Alumni Hall of Fame this year.
Heidi Hammel is the latest chosen inductee into the group after her immense contributions to the planetary science community.
The ARCS Foundation recognizes undergraduate and graduate students who have the potential to impact science, engineering and medical research fields.
In 1985, Hammel was an ARCS scholarship recipient while at UHM studying to get her PhD in physics and astronomy.
"When I was a young student in physics, women were very much a minority, and I often felt inadequate," said Hammel in a press release.
"The recognition provided by ARCS Foundation was a wonderful boost – it gave me confidence that I belonged in science and encouraged me to persevere," she said.
As the go-to expert on Neptune and Uranus, Hammel was recognized for her planetary science research with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope.
Her research on Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's collision with Jupiter in 1994 led to NASA’s first mission dedicated to investigating and testing asteroid deflection.
In her acceptance speech, Hammel said, "I think it's important for us to recognize scholarship in whatever form it takes so we can encourage the generations coming up to be involved in scholarship and learning and thinking."
