Jim Zimbelman

Planetary Geologist

Center for Earth and Planetary Studies

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

zimbelmanj@si.edu

James R. Zimbelman is a planetary geologist at the Smithsonian’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, a position he has held since 1988.  He has published more than 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts, over 400 published abstracts for conferences and workshops, and he was co-author of “Dune Worlds: How windblown sand shapes planetary surfaces” (with Ralph Lorenz; Springer) in 2014.  He has visited Iceland, Greenland, Antarctica, and several countries in South America as a Study Leader on Smithsonian Journeys trips.  His research interests include analysis of high resolution imaging data of Mars, geologic mapping of Mars and Venus, studies of lava flows on planetary surfaces, and sand transport processes on Earth and Mars. Prior to coming to the Smithsonian, he was a staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas. Dr. Zimbelman received his B.A. in Physics and Mathematics (1976) at Northwest Nazarene University, an M.S. in Geophysics and Space Physics (1978) at the University of California at Los Angeles, and his Ph.D. in Geology (1984) from Arizona State University.