Kuljeet Kaur Marhas Elected Fellow of the Meteoritical Society
Why in the news
Kuljeet Kaur Marhas of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, has been elected a Fellow of The Meteoritical Society for 2026, becoming the first Indian woman to earn the honour.
Key facts
- Honour: Fellow of The Meteoritical Society, 2026.
- Milestone: first Indian woman and only the third Indian overall.
- Earlier Indian Fellows: Devendra Lal and J.N. Goswami.
- Institution: Planetary Science Division, PRL, Ahmedabad.
- Other recognition: Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and winner of the Devendra Lal Memorial Medal.
About her work
Marhas, a professor at PRL, studies short-lived radionuclides and stable isotopes in extraterrestrial materials, such as pre-solar grains, calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions, chondrules and meteoritic organic matter. She uses secondary ion mass spectrometry and nanoSIMS, and has analysed samples from the Stardust and Hayabusa missions and the Apollo programme.
About the society and PRL
The Meteoritical Society, founded in 1933, honours leading researchers in meteoritics and planetary science. PRL is an autonomous institute under the Department of Space.
Exam angle
- Person in news: Kuljeet Kaur Marhas, linked to PRL Ahmedabad.
- Honour: Fellow of the Meteoritical Society.
- PRL is an autonomous institute under the Department of Space.