Outreach and service
I am actively engaged in scientific outreach and professional committees, with a passion for communicating science to diverse audiences and working in teams towards the successful completion of projects. I have organized networking opportunities, workshops, and conference sessions. In these roles, I focus on scientific content, transferable skills, diverse speaker representation, and fostering an open, welcoming environment for fellow scientists. You can find more details on my current and past outreach activities and other professional roles below.
Highlights
Outreach activities
Public outreach activities
11.2024
Outreach event at the ‘Maker Days‘, Kentucky Science Center, Louisville, USA: NASA booth and “Postcard from Venus” activity.
11.2023
Public speaker on Astronomy on Tap, Los Angeles (Caltech Astro Outreach), ‘Unveiling Venus, Earth’s evil twin‘
Appearance in outreach media (video, podcast, written)
05.2024
Expert opinion quote in The New York Times article ‘Rivers of Lava on Venus Reveal a More Volcanically Active Planet‘
05.2024
On-camera appearance in the History Channel‘s TV documentary “The UnXplained: Mysteries of the Universe“, season 1 episode 4: “Venus: Earth’s evil twin”
05.2024
On-camera appearance in the History Channel‘s TV documentary “The UnXplained: Mysteries of the Universe“, season 1 episode 3: “Mysterious Earth”
11.2023
Expert opinion quote in Scientific American article ‘New Map Reveals Secrets of Io, the Solar System’s Most Volcanic Moon‘
10.2023
Expert opinion quote in The New York Times article ‘Billions of Years Ago, Venus May Have Had a Key Earth-like Feature‘
03.2023
Interviewed for, and quoted in, the Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung article ‘Lava für die Liebesgöttin‘
03.2023
Expert opinion quote in National Geographic article ‘Venus is volcanically alive, stunning new find shows‘
02.2023
Feature in blog post ‘Women claim their space in science and encourage you to do the same!‘, European Geoscience Union
04.2022
Scientific guest in podcast episode ‘Unraveling the geologic history of Venus‘, ‘The Cosmic Cast’ podcast and YouTube channel
12.2022
Interviewee in a Women-in-STEM interview for GAIA (Dutch network for women in Earth Sciences): ‘Interview with dr. Anna Gülcher‘
Peer-reviewed outreach articles
Gülcher, A. J. P. (2021) A surprisingly geologically active Venus – evidence for recent volcanic and tectonic activity. The Science Breaker, Earth and Space, DOI: 10.25250/thescbr.brk555
Gülcher, A. J. P. (2020) Evidence for a hotspot Venus – clues from mysterious coronae. Nature Astrononomy ‘behind the paper’, https://go.nature.com/ 30HTHYP
Authored outreach blog posts
03.2023
The first observational evidence for a volcanically active Venus, EGU Geodynamics blog ‘Peculiar Planets’
02.2023
Be the next Early Career Scientist Representative for the Geodynamics Division! EGU Geodynamics blog
04.2021
What to expect from vEGU21: virtual General Assembly, EGU Geodynamics blog
11.2020
First-time convening an EGU session? Some advice from Early Career Scientists, feature for ‘GeoLog’ blog
09.2020
Venus: Science! Today! EGU Geodynamics blog ’Peculiar Planets’
04.2020
#ShareEGU20_GD: online EGU General Assembly highlights, EGU Geodynamics blog
03.2020
Zurich: surrounded by a geologist’s playground, EGU ‘Geology in the city’ blog
Edited outreach blog posts
09.2021
Work-life balance during a PhD, ‘The PhD Chronicles’, Dr. Ben Knight
06.2021
The most important aspect of your PhD: supervisor-student relationship, ‘The PhD Chronicles’, Dr. Diana Avadanii
04.2021
Finding support in a four-legged friend, ‘The PhD Chronicles’, Dr. Lori Willhite
03.2021
First time… Publishing a paper, ‘The PhD Chronicles’, Dr. Jamie Ward
02.2021
Should I… Do a coding-based PhD when I don’t have much experience coding? ‘The PhD Chronicles’, Dr. Dan Spencer
11.2020
Geodynamics 101: Dynamic Topography, Dr. Fred Richards
06.2020
Starting to teach? Here are three tips!, Dr. Menno Fraters
04.2020
The challenges and the-perks of being academic nomads, Dr. Irene Bonati
10.2019
The conundrum posed by data and models, Dr. Dan Bower
08.2019
Adaption, Prof. Nicolas Coltice
07.2019
It doesn’t work! (Asking questions about scientific software), Dr. Patrick Sanan
Professional service
Planetary science mission involvement
03.2025 – present
ESA‘s EnVision mission: Interdisciplinary Scientist (IDS) in the core Science Working Team (SWT)
03.2023 – present
NASA‘s VERITAS mission: scientific collaborator to the mission
Professional roles
07.2023 – 07.2026
NASA’s Venus Exploration and Analysis Group (VExAG) Steering Committee member
Three-year appointment as a member of the VExAG Steering Committee
05.2020 – 05.2022
European Geoscience Union (EGU) Geodynamics (GD) division: Early Career Scientist Representative
Two-year appointment to represent Early Career Scientists in the European Geoscience Union
05.2019 – 01.2023
05.2020 – 01.2023
EGU Geodynamics division: social media and outreach content manager
Institutional responsibilities (selected)
04.2025 – 08-2025
Deputy Director of the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH), University of Bern, Switzerland
05.2020 – 05.2022
ETH Zürich: Lead organiser of the 2022 Doctoral Retreatfor 100+ PhDs/Postdocs from the Department of Earth Sciences
09.2021 – 09.2022
ETH Zürich: co-organiser of the Fix the Leaky Pipeline peer-mentoring group (Women-in-STEM program)
09.2015 – 09.2016
Utrecht University: Consultant to the Board of Education (Geosciences department)
09.2015 – 09.2016
Utrecht University: President of the Women’s Geological Society Utrecht
Full conference/workshop organisation
09.2022
09.2020
‘Feedbacks between mantle composition, structure and evolution’ virtual mini-workshop
Session convening and chairing
05.2025
EGU General Assembly, session `Venus: models, observations, (early) Earth and exoplanet analogue’.
12.2024
AGU Fall Meeting, session ‘Deep Connections: Structures, Dynamics, and Interactions at Earth’s Core-Mantle Boundary’
07.2024
Goldschmidt Conference, co-chair of the overarching theme ‘Earth’s deep interior’
04.2024
EGU General Assembly, session ‘Venus: models, observations, (early) Earth and exoplanet analogue’
03.2024
LPSC, session ‘Venus’ surface: is it Hot in here, or is it just me?’
12.2023
AGU Fall Meeting, session ‘Interdisciplinary Advances in Understanding Earth’s Lowermost Mantle Landscape’
04.2023
EGU General Assembly, session ‘Venus: models, observations, exoplanet analogue’
03.2023
LPSC, session ‘Venus: Mantles, Lithospheres, Atmospheres, Oh My!’
12.2022
AGU Fall Meeting, session ‘Toward an Interdisciplinary Understanding on the Structure, Composition, and Dynamic Evolution of the Lower Mantle’
05.2022
EGU General Assembly, session ‘Deformation processes from grain- to planetary-scales: experiments, observations, and models’
05.2022
EGU General Assembly, short course ‘Meet the EGU journal editors’
12.2021
AGU Fall Meeting, session ‘Interdisciplinary perspectives on intraplate magmatism, mantle plumes, and the deep Earth: both past and present’
09.2021
Europlanet Science Congress, session ‘Venus Science and Exploration’
07.2021
Goldschmidt Conference, session ‘Ancient mantle heterogeneities through time: observations to modelling’
04.2021
EGU General Assembly, session ‘From minerals to the dynamics of Earth’s interior: linking crystal chemistry, rheology, and geodynamics across the scales’
04.2021
EGU General Assembly, short course ‘Meet the EGU journal editors’