Anna Gülcher
Earth and planetary scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of Technology
I am a computational Earth and planetary scientist interested in planetary evolution and (in)habitability. My research focuses on – but is not restricted to – the interior and tectonic processes that shape rocky planets such as Venus and Earth. I am very enthusiastic about several space missions dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of our neighbouring planet Venus. Currently, I am a scientific collaborator to NASA’s VERITAS mission and an associate to the radio Science Experiment (RSE) science team of ESA’s EnVision mission.
I am further passionate about project and team management, science communication, teaching, and diversity. I have a track record of organisational skills and professional outreach experience. I previously served several roles in the Geodynamics Division of the European Geosciences Union and am currently on NASA’s Venus Exploration and Analysis Group Steering Committee. I am committed to foster a more open, diverse, and inclusive community for scientists.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4900 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, US
California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., South Mudd Rm 266, Pasadena, CA 91125, US
Find out more
Outreach articles/activities, science communication, and professional service roles
Academic / research experience
Research fellow | Planetary Scientist (11.2024 – present)
Center for Space and Habitability (CSH), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Awardee of CSH fellowship with project dedicated to explore Venus in the context of rocky (exo)planetas
Postdoctoral researcher | Planetary Scientist (01.2023 – 10.2024)
Planetary Interiors and Geophysics, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
Principal Investigator on research project on Venus’ tectonics and volcanism, awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Postdoctoral researcher in Geophysics (11.2022 – 12.2022)
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics group, Dept. of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
PhD researcher in Geophysics | Planetary Sciences (10.2018 – 10.2022)
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics group, Dept. of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
PhD dissertation: Computational modeling of Earth’s interior evolution through chemical and rheological heterogeneity in the lower mantle
MSc. in Geophysics (09.2016 – 08.2018)
Institute of Geophysics, Dept. of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
MSc thesis: 3D computational modeling of the tectonic and magmatic processes that shape the so-called ‘corona’ structures on the surface of Venus.
BSc. in Earth Sciences (09.2013 – 07.2016)
Dept. of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
BSc thesis: Paleomagnetic fieldwork and laboratory experiments on lava rocks from Pico Island, The Azores, to deduce Earth’s ancient geomagnetic field.
Highlights
Awards and grants
EUR 1.700.000 grant
Grant awarded by the Volkswagen Foundation, Germany under the ‘Earth System Sciences’ call for a tenure-track professorship in Earth and Planetary Geodynamics at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Proposal entitled “Venus as a natural laboratory for Earth’s past and future” (awarded Jul 2024)
CHF 300.000 Fellowship grant
Fellowship grant awarded by the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) at the University of Bern, Switzerland in 2024 for the project entitled “Venus as a natural laboratory for Earth-like (exo)planets” (from Oct 2024)
CHF 140.000 Fellowship grant
Postdoc.Mobility grant awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) in 2022 for a two-year long research project at the California Institute of Technology and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (USA).
CHF 2000 Grant by ETH Zürich for ‘Fix the Leaky Pipeline’ peer-mentoring group
Grant awarded for the Planetary Equity group within ETH Zurich‘s career-building program for women in science (2021-2022). Theme: ‘Self-development as a pathway to an equal scientific career’.
European Geoscience Union award
Award from the Geodynamics Division from the European Geoscience Union for an outstanding presentation as a PhD researcher during the EGU General Assembly 2019 in Vienna, Austria.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology award
Awarded for the best M.Sc. thesis research of the whole Department of Earth Sciences in 2018, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
CHF 36.000 Scholarship by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Full scholarship for two-year MSc degree in Geophysics at ETH Zürich, Switzerland (2016-2018).
EUR 10.000 Research grant by Foundation “Stichting Molengraaff Fonds” (TU Delft)
Research fund awarded for my BSc thesis research project and related paleomagnetic field work on the Azores, Portugal.
