Erftemeijer, Rody
Main Focus
My main interests are the various processes occurring in and on terrestrial planets, and linking them to their formation and evolution. Currently, I am a Ph.D. student at the MPI for Solar System Research, working at the Planetary Science department. Here, I am investigating the reactions between gaseous sulfur and silicate minerals at conditions relevant to the surface of Mercury by performing high-temperature experiments. Moreover, as a member of the ELMO (Experimental Laboratory Magma Ocean) group, I am studying the thermal properties of sulfide minerals and applying this to both Mercury's surface and condensation in the early Solar System. Experimental results will be used to interpret observations by the ESA BepiColombo spacecraft, which will arrive at Mercury in November 2026.
Curriculum Vitae
Awards and Fellowships:
2025 Best Student Talk award at the Experimental Mineralogy, Petrology, and Geochemistry (EMPG) conference
Education and Employment:
May
2024 - present: PhD project "Experimental investigation of volatiles in
hot rocky planet environments", Max Planck Institute for Solar System
Research (MPS), Göttingen, Germany.
April – July 2023: MSc thesis
"Atmospheric modelling of the young gas giant exoplanets around HR
8799", SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research
September 2021 -
August 2023: MSc Earth Sciences, specialization Geology &
Geochemistry, Free University, Amsterdam (including MSc research project
"High-pressure experimental challenges for sulfur-rich compositions")
September
2018 - July 2021: BSc Earth Sciences, Free University, Amsterdam
(including BSc thesis "Experimental constraints on a hydrous
low-pressure Martian magma ocean")