Vincent E. Courtillot (born 6 March 1948) is an emeritus French geophysicist, prominent among the researchers who are critical of the hypothesis that impact events are a primary cause of mass extinction of life forms on the Earth.
Courtillot is an engineer from the École nationale supérieure des Mines de Paris.
[3] He has pursued an academic career in France and the United States, including teaching stints at Caltech and the University of Minnesota, and work with the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (where he has been director since 2004), and the Ministry of National Education in France.
However, Courtillot does not dispute the scientifically-determined facts of the Chicxulub impact; rather, he argues that the totality of the available evidence supports a thesis that mass extinctions are generally caused by volcanic action.
Vincent Courtillot asserted that his collaboration with oil companies Total and Schlumberger on CO2 sequestration (CCS)[8][9] has no influence on his research and results.