Orbit of Astroid 8998 Matthewizawa, 1981 EG23
WINNIPEG, MB – Dr. Matthew Richard Mitsuomi Izawa is a postdoctoral researcher fellow at The University of Winnipeg working with Dr. Ed Cloutis, Department of Geography. Izawa recently was honoured with an asteroid named after him, Orbit of Astroid 8998 Matthewizawa, 1981 EG23.
Dr. Matthew Richard Mitsuomi Izawa
“The asteroid naming was a huge surprise,” expressed Izawa. “I’m very humbled to be recognized in this way. There are scientists that I deeply respect, including Dr. Cloutis, who have asteroids named for them and I am honoured to be, in that sense, ‘among them’.”
Izawa specializes in laboratory spectroscopic research of minerals, meteorites and planetary materials including studies of the Chelyabinsk meteorite. Izawa is working with Cloutis to develop new techniques that can be used to determine the composition of asteroids using data from Earth-based telescopes and spacecraft.
“The goal of this research is to gain new insights into the origin and evolution of the solar system and how asteroids may have “seeded” the Earth with molecules necessary for the evolution of life,” explained Cloutis.
“Being able to spend my workdays with material from outer space, or from weird and wonderful places here on Earth makes for a really awesome job,” said Izawa.
Izawa has always been fascinated by the natural world and wanted to know how things worked down to the basic level. His first great love in science was physics, specifically, the quest for a unified theory of nature in which all the forces and particles of nature fit in a coherent framework.
Izawa obtained his PhD in planetary science and geology and an MSc in geology at the University of Western Ontario (UWO), department of Earth Sciences; and a BSc honours in planetary science though the physics and astronomy department at UWO.
