The 2025 Runcorn-Florensky Medal is awarded to Cathy Quantin Nataf
The 2025 Runcorn-Florensky Medal is awarded to Cathy Quantin Nataf for groundbreaking contributions to the geology of ancient Mars through her research on sedimentary records and erosional history, and for her pivotal roles in the Mars 2020 and Exomars missions.
Cathy Quantin-Nataf, Professor at the University of Lyon 1, has accomplished groundbreaking research focusing on the geology of ancient Mars. Her seminal work on the ancient sedimentary record and erosional history of Mars has significantly advanced our understanding of the planet’s watery past. Her expertise spans a broad range of skills, including remote sensing in geomorphology and spectroscopy, radar sounding, digital terrain analysis, and geophysical modelling. Her research has elucidated the mechanisms and timelines of aqueous sediment deposition on Mars, highlighting environments that once sustained liquid water.
