"Paul Wiegert is a Canadian astronomer whose research interests extend from the smallest bodies in our own Solar System -asteroids, meteors and moons- to the systems of planets that orbit other stars, known as 'exoplanets'. Asteroids are perhaps best known for the hazards they might pose to our planet, but very few asteroids are dangerous. Most are harmless and some even peacefully share the Earth's orbit with us. Asteroids also contain the oldest material in our Solar System, and are among the next targets slated for human space exploration. Exoplanets are one of the newest fields in astronomy. Though unknown only a few decades ago, we now know of thousands of planetary systems, many very different from our own, and each with a unique story to tell.

Professor Wiegert obtained his PhD in Astronomy from the University of Toronto in 1996 and worked at York University and Queen's before starting at the University of Western Ontario, where he is now a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and a member of the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (IESX) . He is best known for his work related to the discovery of the Earth's first co-orbital asteroid (3753) Cruithne sometimes (incorrectly) called 'Earth's second Moon'; and asteroid 2010 TK7, the Earth's first Trojan asteroid. He and his research group have discovered over 70 asteroids and counting."