Athena Coustenis

Based at the Observatoire de Paris, Dr Athena Coustenis is the world's pre-eminent expert on Titan, the Saturn moon that has fascinated astronomers and astrophysicists since its discovery in 1655.

Born in Athens, Greece, Dr Coustenis moved to France to study, receiving her PhD Astrophysics and Space Techniques in 1989 for her research into Titan. In the past two decades, as technological development has allowed space exploration to expand, she has deepened her fascination with Titan and in particular it's atmosphere and environment.

The earth-like conditions scientists have discovered on Titan have lead to it being a focus for research and since 2004 Dr Coustenis has been a key member of the Cassini/Huygens ESA/NASA mission, which is studying Saturn and its moons.

In addition to the Cassini/Huygens mission Dr Coustenis is lobbying for futher reseach of Saturn's moons. She has written and lectured extensively on the subject of planetary atmospheres and is the co-author of the forthcoming book 'Titan: Exploring an Earthlike World.'