Irka Hajdas is a geochronologist using radiocarbon dating as a chronometer applied in climate research, environmental studies, archaeology, cultural heritage, and forensics. After completing master studies in nuclear physics at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, she gained her doctorate from ETH Zurich in 1993 and continued her research at the AMS radiocarbon laboratory at ETH Zurich. Currently a lecturer at the Geology Department, ETH Zurich, Hajdas is also involved in programs promoting science for schools. She has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed publications that reflect the interdisciplinary character of the radiocarbon dating method. She is a member of the European Geosciences Union, where she currently serves as the president of Climate Division. As a member of Radiocarbon community and of the European Association of Archeologists, Hajdas is involved in activities for the protection of cultural heritage. In 2015 she joined the Anthropocene Working Group, contributing her expertise on the “bomb peak radiocarbon” produced during the mid-twentieth-century nuclear tests.