celestial centennial speakers and presenters iographies ... · preservation in national parks. dr....

Celestial Centennial SPEAKERS AND PRESENTERS

BIOGRAPHIES

Death Valley National Park is proud to team up with NASA, the

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, Mars Science

Laboratory (Curiosity), Death Valley National History Association

and others to bring this event to the public. The Celestial

Centennial and Mars Fest Symposium is featuring speakers this

year with a broad range of subjects such as Mars, planetary and

night sky protection, and beyond. Please see a schedule for a full list of presentations and times.

Scientist’s biographies appear in no particular order.

and Mars Fest Symposium


BIOGRAPHIES and Mars Fest Symposium

Keynote Speaker Tyler Nordgren is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University

of Redlands. Prior to arriving at Redlands in 2001 he was an astronomer

at both Lowell Observatory and the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff,

Arizona. He earned his PhD in astronomy from Cornell University in 1997

for work on dark matter in interacting spiral galaxies. In addition to

publishing roughly two dozen peer reviewed scientific articles he is also

the author of “Stars Above, Earth Below: A guide to astronomy in the

national parks,” a popular science book dedicated to revealing what

visitors to America’s national parks can observe in a dark night sky. Since

2007, Dr. Nordgren has worked closely with the U.S. National Park

Service Night Sky Program to promote astronomy outreach and night-sky

preservation in national parks. Dr. Nordgren has helped document this

vanishing landscape with award-winning artwork and night sky

photography that has been on display in galleries from New York City to

Flagstaff, Arizona and has been used in a number of national parks. He is

a past-member of the Board of Directors for the International Dark-

Sky Association. In 2012, NASA’s Curiosity rover joined Spirit and Opportunity on Mars, each

carrying sundials, or “Marsdials” which Dr. Nordgren helped design with a team of seven other scientists

and artists. His new book on the Great American solar eclipse of 2017, entitled “SUN MOON EARTH:

The History of Solar Eclipses from Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets” will be published in 2016.

Josh Hoines has a Bachelors of Science in Ecology and Evolution

from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Josh has advanced

education in Restoration Ecology from the University of Idaho.

Over the last 16 years Josh has work collaboratively to

establish early detection and rapid response programs for the

federal land managers in southern Nevada; served as the

Interagency Restoraiton Program Coordinator for the Southern

Nevada Agency Partnership; the Vegetation Ecologist for

Joshua Tree National Park; and is now the Chief of Science and

Integrated Resources for Death Valley National Park.


BIOGRAPHIES

Jill Tarter holds the Bernard M. Oliver

Chair for SETI Research at the SETI

Institute in Mountain View, California

and serves as a member of the Board

of Trustees for that institution. Tarter

received her Bachelor of Engineering

Physics Degree with Distinction from

Cornell University and her Master’s

Degree and a Ph.D. in Astronomy

from the University of California,

Berkeley.


She served as Project Scientist for NASA’s SETI program, the High Resolution Microwave Survey and has conducted numerous observational programs at radio observatories worldwide. She is a Fellow of the AAAS, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Explorers Club, she was named one of the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2004, and one of the Time 25 in Space in 2012, received a TED prize in 2009, two public service awards from NASA, multiple awards for communicating science to the public, and has been honored as a woman in technology. She was the 2014 Jansky Lecturer. In 2015 she became President of the California Academy of Sciences. Asteroid 74824 Tarter (1999 TJ16) has been named in her honor. Since the termination of funding for NASA’s SETI program in 1993, she has served in a leadership role to design and build the Allen Telescope Array and to secure private funding to continue the exploratory science of SETI. Many people are now familiar with her work as portrayed by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact.

Alfonso F. Davila, PhD is a senior research scientist at the SETI Institute. His research focuses on astrobiology, and in particular the study of terrestrial environments that are analogous to Mars and other planetary bodies, such as the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, and the ice-free regions of Antarctica. These studies provide important clues regarding the environmental limits of life, the evolution of habitability on Mars, and how to search for evidence of life beyond the Earth.


BIOGRAPHIES


Working with Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye the Science Guy and other

colleagues, Mat Kaplan creates public radio’s only series that is devoted to

the exploration of our solar system and beyond. Heard on 140 stations, the

weekly half-hour is also one of the most popular science-related podcasts.

His list of distinguished guests is a final frontier who’s who that includes

astronauts, scientists like Jill Tarter, NASA leaders, engineers, authors,

space

entrepreneurs

and dreamers.

Planetary Radio can be heard on iTunes,

SoundCloud, Stitcher and at planetary.org/

radio.

Dr. Robert M. Haberle is a Space Scientist at the NASA/

Ames Research Center in Mt. View, California. He has a

Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Wash-

ington and is an expert on the climate of Mars. He has led

the development of a state-of-the-art climate model for

Mars and has published numerous papers on the topic.

He has participated in many of NASA’s missions to Mars

and is currently a co-investigator on the Curiosity Rover’s

meteorology experiment. He is presently leading an effort

for a Cambridge University Press soon-to-be published

book on the Atmosphere and Climate of Mars.


BIOGRAPHIES

Ernest Bowman-Cisneros received a Bachelors of Science in Ge-ology from the University of Texas at El Paso (1989). After a grad-uate school stint at Northern Arizona University, studying the metamorphic history of the Old Woman Mountains in California, he began a 20 year career combining a love of geology and com-puters, supporting science and NASA spacecraft missions while working at the Astrogeology Branch of the USGS, Duke Universi-ty and Northwestern University. Ernest has supported the CLEM-ENTINE, NEAR/MSI, MRO/CRISM and MESSENGER/MDIS mis-sion/instruments.


His research focuses on planetary science and the origin of life. He is also actively involved in planning for future Mars missions including human explora-tion. Chris been involved in research in Mars-like en-vironments on Earth, traveling to Death Valley, the Antarctic dry valleys, Siberia, the Canadian Arctic, the Atacama, Namib, & Sahara deserts to study life in these Mars-like environments. He was a co-investigator on the Huygens probe to Saturn’s moon Titan in 2005, the Mars Phoenix lander mission in 2008, and the Mars Science Laboratory mission, in 2012.

Ernest most recent work has been with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission, serving as the Science Operations Center (SOC) manager for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) instru-ment - managed and operated from the campus of Arizona State University, in Tempe Arizona. Ernest has been responsible for developing the SOC facility, hiring and training all the operations staff and overseeing the instrument operations since the mission launched in 2009. The LROC instrument has acquired 1,724,747 observations of the Moon, totaling over 600 TB worth of files and representing a dozen different image products. LROC images are available for viewing and download at the website www.lroc.sese.asu.edu.

Dr. Chris McKay is a research scientist with the NASA Ames Research Center.


BIOGRAPHIES

Andrea Jones is an Education Specialist at the

Planetary Science Institute, based out of NASA’s

Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

She conducts education and public outreach

activities for NASA planetary science missions and

programs, including the Mars Science Laboratory

Curiosity rover, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter,

and three of NASA’s Solar System Exploration

Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) teams–FINESSE,

DREAM2, and RIS4E. Andrea is Director of

International Observe the Moon Night, an annual

worldwide celebration of lunar and planetary

science. She earned her undergraduate degree in

Geology from the College of William & Mary, and a

Masters degree in Geosciences, with a focus in

planetary geology, from the University of Arizona.


Dr. Luther Beegle is currently the Principal Investigator for SHERLOC on Mars 2020 as well as the Deputy Section Manager for the Planetary Science Section within the Science Division at JPL. The Scanning Habitable Environments for Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals is an arm mounted instrument that will search for potential biosignatures on the surface of Mars and will enable the collection and caching of highly valuable samples for eventual return to earth for study. An experimental astrophysicist by training, he has extensive experience developing and designing instrumentation such as organic molecule extract techniques, charged particle optics, ion mobility spectrometers, and cylindrical ion trap mass spectrometers for space and terrestrial applications. A current area of research is how robotic sample acquisition techniques physically and chemically alter the components of samples on current and future in situ missions. He is a Surface Sampling Scientist on the Mars Science Laboratory working with the science team to identify suitable high valued scientific samples that will not damage the Sample Acquisition, Sample Processing and Handling (SA/SPAaH) on the MSL rover.


BIOGRAPHIES

Brian Day is the Lead for Citizen Science and Community Development at the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI). In this role, he coordinates programs with numerous internal and external partnering organizations, focusing on providing opportunities for students and the public to directly participate in NASA science and exploration. He currently acts as SSERVI’s project manager for NASA’s Lunar Mapping and Modeling Portal (www.lmmp.nasa.gov), a set of tools designed for mission planning, lunar science, and public outreach. From 2010-2014, Brian served as the Education/Public Outreach Lead for NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission to the Moon, which flew through and studied the Moon’s tenuous atmosphere. From 2007-2010 he served as the E/PO Lead for NASA’s LCROSS lunar impactor mission which discovered deposits of water ice at the Moon’s South Pole. He has also participated in producing the Education/Public Outreach sections for numerous NASA mission proposals. Brian has played key roles in various NASA Mars Analog Field Studies, providing technical support in the field for webcasts and robotic rover tests in extreme environments here on Earth. In 2007, he flew on the Aurigid-MAC mission to record fragments of comet Kiess entering Earth’s upper atmosphere. Brian is a frequently-requested speaker at local schools and community organizations. As a member of NASA’s Speakers Bureau, he is sent by NASA to give talks on a wide range of NASA missions and research topics. Brian has worked as an instructor in San Jose State University’s Internet Business Specialist program, and has taught astronomy through the Metropolitan Education District in San Jose and as part of Project Astro. He is very active in the amateur astronomy community and served as the chairman of the Foothill College Observatory for 16 years. Brian earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of California Los Angeles, a Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems from the University of San Francisco, and a Master’s degree in Astronomy from the University of Western Sydney.


Aaron Zent got his Ph. D. in Geology from the

University of Hawaii in 1988, and has been at

NASA Ames ever since. He has been involved with

several Mars missions, most recently the 2008

Phoenix lander. His research focuses on the phys-

ical and chemical interactions between planetary

atmospheres and their surfaces.


BIOGRAPHIES

Dr. Heidi Manning is a professor of physics and chair of the physics department at Concordia College where she has worked for the past 19 years. She also served as the Chair of the Division of Sciences and Mathematics at the college. She earned her Ph.D. in Physics in 1995 from the University of Minnesota. Her bachelor’s degree in physics was earned from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1990. Her scientific research has focused on planetary science. As a graduate student, she helped develop an instrument that was flown on the Space Shuttle. Prior to coming to Concordia College, Dr. Manning worked as a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD where she tested and calibrated an instrument currently orbiting Saturn on the Cassini spacecraft. During the 2012-2013 academic year, she was on sabbatical from Concordia and spent the year working with date coming from the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)

instrument suite that is on board Curiosity- the rover on Mars. For the past three years, she has continued to work with the SAM instrument as it operates on Mars and makes discoveries on the Red Planet.


Florence Tan has designed electronics on various mass spectrometers

since 1991. Florence designed electronics that flew on the Cassini

Orbiter as well as the Huygens Probe. Cassini is still orbiting around

Saturn, collecting valuable scientific data about the Saturnian system.

Florence is currently the electrical Lead Engineer for the Sample

Analysis at Mars (SAM), and instrument on Curiosity, the Mars Science

Laboratory (MSL) rover. Florence is also the Electrical lead Engineer for

the Neutral mass Spectrometer (NMS) on the Lunar Atmospheric Dust

Environment Experiment (LADEE) Spacecraft and the Neutral Gas Ion

Mass Spectrometer (NGMIS) on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile

Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft. Florence also volunteers as a math tutor for her neighbor’s children and

as a yoga teacher to her fellow engineers and scientists. When not busy, Florence likes to read about the

etymology of English and other languages. She also loves to cook and eat Malaysian and Thai food.



Dr. Margaret Race is an ecologist who works with NASA through the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA. where she focuses on astrobiology, searches for extraterrestrial life, and science policy issues associated with space exploration and emerging technologies. Dr. Race specializes in planetary protection —how to plan robotic and human missions in ways that ensure environmental protection of both the Earth and locations in outer space. In addition to her astrobiology and planetary protection work, she is also involved in science education and public outreach through schools, science museums, libraries, and the massmedia. Dr. Race grew up in Boston, received her BA and MS degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, and came to California where she got her Ph.D. in Ecology from UC Berkeley. After a postdoc at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, she taught and did environmental research for many years at both Stanford (Human Biology) and UC Berkeley (College of Natural Resources)—and later joined NASA to work on astrobiology and societal issues. (Believe it or not, she started out working on environmental impacts of nuclear and fossil fuel power plants and later studied introduced mudsnails in San Francisco Bay. From effluent pipes and mudflats, to Mars!)

Lora Bleacher is the Solar System Exploration Division's

Education and Public Outreach Lead. She shares the

excitement of GSFC's planetary science research and

missions with educators, students, and the public through

authentic experiences, professional development, and

opportunities to interact with GSFC's subject matter experts.

A planetary scientist by training, Bleacher enjoys

communicating about the practice of science and NASA STEM

careers with the audiences she reaches. She is also dedicated

to enabling scientists and engineers to effectively engage

with learners of all ages.


BIOGRAPHIES

Rosalba Bonaccorsi (SETI Institute/NASA Ames Research Center) is an interdisciplinary scientist working at

NASA Ames Research Center. In 2001 she obtained her Ph.D. in Geological, Marine and Environmental

Sciences from the University of Trieste (Italy). Since 2005 she has expanded her interest to the habitability

of mineralogical Mars analogs, and very dry desert regions worldwide, including the Mojave, Antarctica,

Atacama (Chile), and Australia, often as a NASA Spaceward Bound team

member. Rosalba joined the SETI Institute in 2008, and is keen to achieve a

wide picture of where life and its signatures are most successfully

distributed, concentrated, preserved, and detected. Since 2008, Rosalba

has been working in Death Valley on the Ubehebe Volcanic Field. In

collaboration with NASA scientists, she is applying results from this

research to Mars Science Laboratory mission objectives. Formerly a

teacher, she has been involved with Education and Public Outreach with

non-profit organizations since 1989.


Bill Diamond is the current President and CEO of the SETI Institute, and a technology executive and Silicon Valley veteran. He has over 20 years of experience in the photonics and optical communications industry, and a decade in X-ray and semiconductor processing technologies. His corporate background spans the spectrum from venture-backed start-ups to Fortune 100 multinationals, with responsibilities ranging from engineering and operations to sales, marketing, product management and CEO positions.

Most recently, Diamond was Vice President of Sales for Oclaro, Inc. where he led the company’s penetration in optical networking of the rapidly-evolving Web 2.0 Data Center market. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Product Management for optical amplifiers, ROADM, high bit-rate modules, and micro-optics at Oclaro, culminating in the successful divestiture of several of these businesses to II-VI.

Bill Diamond holds a B.A. in physics from Holy Cross College and a

masters in business administration from Georgetown University.



Dr. Susanne Douglas has a Ph.D. in Geomicrobiology from

the University of Guelph in Canada. Her work since then has

focused on determining the inter-relationships between

minerals, microorganisms, and geochemistry in the Earth's

extreme environments. She has studied saline alkaline lakes

in northern Canada, closed marine basins in the Bahamas,

evaporative hot spring pools in Iceland and California, and

endolithic microbial communities in various deserts

including the Antarctic Dry Valleys. Her main research area

at present is Death Valley National Park, where she holds an

active research permit and conducts investigations of

microbe-mineral inter-relationships.

Mary Beth Wilhelm is an early-career scientist in the Planetary Science and Exobiology Branches at NASA Ames Research Center. She primarily researches the preservation of fossil biomarkers in terrestrial Mars analog environments such as the Atacama Desert in Chile. She also investigates astrobiologically significant the geologic features on modern Mars using remote sensing data and is a member on the Mars Science Laboratory science team. Ms. Wilhelm began working at NASA Ames when she was 16 years old, contributing to planetary science and astrobiology research projects which still in high school. In 2012, she obtained her bachelors degree from Cornell University in Earth Science with a concentration in Planetary Science and a minor in Dance. She is currently in the final year of her Planetary Science PhD program with a minor in Biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She has published academic research in the fields of astrobiology, geomicrobiology, and and exploration, and has conducted many geological fieldwork expeditions.

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