Ernst Kunibert Zinner

Background

Zinner was born on 30 January 1937 at Sankt Peter in der Au, Austria, a small town about 100 miles west of Vienna. Although his father, Kunibert Zinner, was a renowned sculptor, he was more interested in nature and science as a boy.

Education

He earned his Doctor of Philosophy there in 1972 in high energy physics.

Career

Zinner"s Doctor of Philosophy research was in high energy physics. His later research was focused on the information contained in presolar grains carried by early meteorites. These grains were formed in atmospheres and explosions of stars outside of our solar system, and they can provide information about the history of stellar nucleosynthesis and the formation of the solar system.

He was instrumental in identifying for the first time material in meteorites that pre-dated the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

Zinner and his colleagues found minute amounts of stardust - diamond and silicon carbide - that originated outside the solar system. Identification of these grains involved a measurement technique called secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS).

Zinner was widely considered one of the leading authorities on the instrument, and he trained scientists worldwide in its use. The work led to the emergence of a new field of study, the laboratory analysis of stardust, which opened up new insights into the evolution of stars and nucleosynthesis of the elements.

His research has involved Ion microprobe analysis since 1974.

He has worked with the Cameca IP Multimedia Subsystem 3f instrument since 1982, and the Cameca NanoSIMS instrument since 2000. He led the Long Duration Exposure Facility.

Achievements

• 1987 Antarctic Service Medal, National Science Foundation 1997 J. Lawrence Smith Medal, National Academy of Sciences 1997 Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society 2010 Merle A. Tuve Fellow of the Carnegie Institution of Washington 2011 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.