LPL alumni Dr. Michelle Thompson (2016) and Dr. James Keane (2017) were honored as 2024 Presidential Early Career Scientists by former U.S. President Joe Biden. The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers recognizes scientists and engineers who show exceptional potential for leadership early in their research careers and is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding early-career scientists and engineers.  

Michelle Thompson is an Associate Professor at Purdue University, where she studies the alteration of planetary materials after their formation, specifically the evolution of airless body surfaces. James Keane is a Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he studies the interactions between orbital dynamics, rotational dynamics, and geologic processes on rocky and icy worlds across the solar system..