Gordon Osinski

Professor in Earth and Planetary Science, Western University
Dr. Gordon “Oz” Osinski is a Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Western Ontario (Western), Canada. He holds a PhD from the University of New Brunswick (2004) and a BSc (Hons) from the University of St. Andrews (1999), Scotland, both in Geology. Dr. Osinski is also the Director of the Canadian Lunar Research Network and the founder and Chair of the Planetary Sciences Division of the Geological Association of Canada. He also served as Associate Director and then Director of the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration from 2008 to 2019 and was the Founding Director of its successor, the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (2019 – 2021). Dr. Osinski’s research interests are diverse and interdisciplinary in nature, motivated by understanding the evolution of the surface of the Earth and other planetary bodies as well as the origin and evolution of life. His main focus is on understanding impact cratering as a planetary geological process, on the Earth, Moon and Mars. He has conducted fieldwork on 6 continents, from Antarctica to Africa, but the Canadian Arctic is where much of his work takes place. In recognition of scientific exploration of the Canadian Arctic he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in 2014.

Dr. Osinski has published over 230 papers in peer-reviewed journals and special papers and has given over 120 conference presentations. He has received numerous awards for this research, including the Young Scientist Medal of the Mineralogical Association of Canada (2015), the W. W. Hutchison Medal of the Geological Association of Canada (2018), and the Barringer Medal of the Meteoritical Society (2021). He is also involved in several past and ongoing exploration-related activities. Most recently, he was the PI for the Canadian Space Agency Concept Study for an “Integrated Vision System for Characterization of the Lunar surface”. He is also a Co-I on the PanCam instrument on the 2022 ExoMars mission to Mars and is involved in providing geology training to Canadian and US astronauts. Dr. Osinski is also passionate about outreach and science communication and leads several educational initiatives, including Space Matters and Impact Earth.