Prof. Sigrid Elschot, PhD

Sigrid Elschot is a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University and leads the Space Environment and Satellite Systems laboratory. She studies the space environment and its effects on both the Earth and on spacecraft with a focus on the plasma formed from impacts of meteoroids and debris. Prof. Elschot is the recipient of the NSF CAREER award, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and a Department of Energy Early Career Research award. She was selected as a NIAC fellow for her research on impacts on asteroids as well as on for exploring Uranus using CubeSats and has also served on National Academy panels on mitigating near-Earth objects and assessing NASA’s meteoroid and orbital debris programs. Prof. Elschot has co-hosted the National Geographic Channel’s Known Universe series and has appeared in multiple episodes of Nova. Prior to coming to Stanford, Sigrid was a project lead at the Los Alamos National Laboratory developing RF technology for spacecraft to monitor the ground for electromagnetic pulses, and previously at MIT Lincoln Laboratory working in air defense technology and space situational awareness.