Biography

Born in France in 1982, Dr. Ludovic Ferrière developed an early interest in rocks and minerals gradually forming a collection currently with more than one thousand samples and books. At the University of Tours, his passion for meteorite impact cratering was really born, so he spent a year at the University Laval (Quebec) to study geology and explore nearby craters during his spare time. Returning to France he did a one-year course on Planetology at the University of Nantes. During summer 2004 he traversed Canada from east to west, stopping at several impact sites on the way. Then, he completed a Master in Planetology at the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, and learnt about meteorites at the Museum of Natural History. He finally completed his PhD thesis in Vienna (Austria) in 2009, on the geological and geochemical aspects of impactites from the Bosumtwi crater (Ghana), before to move again to Canada for his postdoctoral researches on shatter cones and associated shock-induced microdeformations in minerals (at the University of Western Ontario, London).
Currently, Dr. Ludovic Ferrière is curator of the rock collection and of the building and decorative stones collections at the Natural History Museum in Vienna (Austria).

Click to see or download Dr. Ferrière's publications

Research Interests

Dr. Ferrière’s research interests are diverse, covering not only geological aspects, but also geochemical characteristics of all sort of rocks. His main area of research focuses on understanding impact cratering processes by the study of impactites, the macro- to microscopic effects of shock metamorphism, and associated post-impact processes. Other research interests include meteorites, fusion crusts, impact spinel crystals as well as silica polymorphs, fulgurites, and all kind of glasses.

Media Articles About Ludovic

• Article published online on September 19, 2011 - Visit of the Ambassador of France PDF file (410 Ko) in French
• Article published online on May 3, 2011 - BE AUTRICHE PDF file (76 Ko) in French
• Article published on March 8, 2011 on National Geographic website
• Article published on March 9, 2010 in the "Nouvelle République" journal PDF file (389 Ko) in French
• Article published on February 24, 2009 in the "Nouvelle République" journal PDF file (431 Ko) in French
• Article published on March, 2007 in the "Nouvelle République" journal PDF file (1.0 Mo) in French
• Article published on August 12, 2005 in the "La Renaissance du Loir-et-Cher" journal PDF file (552 Ko) in French