Keil is a researcher at the Univeristy of Hawaii Institute of
Geophysics and Planetology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and
Technology (SOEST).  He has severd as director of this institute and
acted as Interim Dean of SOEST.  Keil is interested in the origin of
solid materials in the solar nebula early in the history of the solar
system, and the subsequent accretion into, and evolution of,
planetesimals and asteroids. In addition he also studies the origin and
evolution of Earth's Moon and the planet Mars using meteorites from
asteroids, Moon and Mars, and on returned lunar samples. The aim of his
research is to understand the processes that took place in the solar
nebula, and the nature of the alterations that these materials
underwent in the nebula.  Keil is also interested in the evolution of
asteroids, including the complex processes of aqueous alteration,
thermal metamorphism, and partial and complete melting. One large area
of this research is aimed at understanding the evolution of crusts,
mantles and cores of differentiated asteroids and the vast array of
igneous processes that may have taken place on these bodies, including
volcanism and pyroclastic eruptions and their consequences.