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Past Winner
2014 NSERC Howard Alper Postdoctoral Prize
Dr. Jérémy Leconte
Post-doctoral Fellow, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
University of Toronto
Studying extreme weather on distant planets to learn Earth’s limits
Dr. Jérémy Leconte could be described as a space-age climatologist. Working at the crossroads between astrophysics, planetology and earth sciences, he has developed several analytical and numerical tools to study the climate of remote planets and their ability to support life.
As a Banting postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, Dr. Leconte is examining the extreme diversity of atmospheres and climate on planets that orbit stars outside our solar system, known as extrasolar planets. Some extrasolar planets have habitable zones similar to Earth while others experience temperatures exceeding 2200°C and winds at supersonic speeds. Understanding such extreme environments will help scientists unravel the fundamental processes governing climate in general—knowledge that is relevant for all worlds, including earth.
The French astrophysicist is developing new mathematical models combined with the latest climate models to study these distant planets. He will apply his tools to the tsunami of data that will be generated by new space observatories scheduled for launch in the next few years.
Dr. Leconte’s research has already helped depict examples of extreme climate change on Earth. He made headlines in December 2013 with a scientific paper in Nature that expanded the habitable zone surrounding stars like the sun. His discovery found it will take about 1 billion years before ‘runaway’ greenhouse gases cause Earth’s oceans to boil away, instead of the 150 million years as previously thought.
Dr. Leconte joined the University of Toronto as a Banting postdoctoral fellow in 2014 after receiving his PhD from France’s École Normale Supérieure de Lyon. Since 2011, he has been involved in the development of various space mission proposals for the European Space Agency.
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