EGS David Robert Bates Medallist - 2002
Dominique Bockelée-Morvan

for her exceptional observations and interpretations of the composition of comets
 
  It is a great honor for me to receive the David Bates Medal, in  recognition of my work on the composition of comets. For thousands of years, comets were considered bewitching objects of the Solar System because of their unpredictable apparitions and their awesome appearance when they become visible to the naked eye. Scientifically speaking, comets are fascinating bodies because they are extraordinary laboratories of chemistry and physics, and, more importantly, because they provide key informations on the early evolution of the Solar System. In the two last decades, there have been dramatic advances in cometary science, thanks to the spacecraft missions to comet Halley and important developments in observational instrumentation, specifically in the millimetre wavelength domain, which is the most suitable for compositional studies, and where I did most of my research. A new era will be opened soon with the launch of the Rosetta cometary mission of the European Spatial  Agency. It is my opinion that this medal recognizes the exceptional  development of cometary and planetary sciences in Europe. Speaking for my  country, planetology is a very active and productive discipline in France,  with many young scientists. As part of this community, I am very honored to  receive this medal. Astronomy is an international science. I would like to  take the opportunity to thank my collaborators in France, Germany, Sweden  and the USA for their friendship and the wonderful work we did together.  Finally, I am also very happy that the David Bates medal is  attributed this year to a woman. The small number of women in the  scientific community is worrying. So, is the tiny number of EGS medals  currently awarded to women. The recognition of the role of  women in Sciences is of great importance to stimulate young women  to follow this career path.