Committee and Staff Biographical Information
JEFF DOZIER, Chair, is a professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He founded the Bren School and served as its first dean for 6 years. His research interests are in the fields of snow hydrology, Earth-system science, remote sensing, and information systems. He has led interdisciplinary studies in two areas: one addresses hydrologic science, environmental engineering, and social science in the water environment; the other involves the integration of environmental science and remote sensing with computer science and technology. He was a principal investigator on the Landsat 4 and 5 programs, when the satellites carrying the first Landsat Thematic Mapper instruments were launched in 1982 and 1984. He served as the senior project scientist for NASA’s Earth Observing System when the configuration for the system was established. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honorary professor of the Academia Sinica, a recipient of both the NASA/Department of the Interior William T. Pecora Award and the NASA Public Service Medal, the winner of the 2009 Jim Gray Award from Microsoft for his achievements in data-intensive science, and the 2010 John Nye Lecturer for the AGU. He earned a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Michigan. He has served on many NRC committees, including the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, the Committee on Indicators for Understanding Global Climate Change, the Committee on Geophysical and Environmental Data (chair), the Committee on Scientific Accomplishments of Earth Observations from Space, and the Committee on Coping with Increasing Demands on Government Data Centers.
CARLOS E. Del CASTILLO, now with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, was a research scientist with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the William S. Parsons Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. He started his career at the University of Puerto Rico studying the effects of oil pollution in tropical marine environments. Later, at the University of South Florida, his interest in organic carbon biogeochemistry and the carbon cycle led him to the use of remote sensing to study biogeochemical and physical processes in the oceans through a combination of remote sensing and field and laboratory experiments. Dr. Del Castillo has served as a project manager at the NASA Stennis Space Center and as a program scientist for Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry at NASA headquarters. He received the William Sackett Prize for Innovation and Excellence in Research from the University of South Florida (1999), the NASA Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2004), and the Emerald Honors Trailblazer Award (2007), among others. He earned his Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of South Florida. He has served as a member of the NRC
Committee on Assessment of Impediments to Interagency Cooperation on Space and Earth Science Missions and the Committee on Assessing Requirements for Sustained Ocean Color Research and Operations.
JACK D. FELLOWS is president of the EnviroGen International Foundation and G2Groups, Inc. Both of these organization focus on supporting the next generation of environmental leaders. He served as the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) vice president and the director of UCAR Community Programs from 1997 to 2012. Before joining UCAR, Dr. Fellows spent 13 years at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) overseeing budget and policy issues related to the NASA, NSF, and federal-wide research and development programs. While at OMB, he helped initiate the U.S. Global Change Research Program. In 1984, he spent a year as the American Geophysical Union’s Congressional Science Fellow and worked on a range of policy issues, including water resources, and helped write commercialization of land remote sensing satellites legislation that was enacted. Dr. Fellows began his career as a research faculty member at the University of Maryland, where he conducted research in the use of satellite data in hydrologic models. He has been a member of several NRC committees.
KATHLEEN O. GREEN is a consultant with Kass Green & Associates, a consultancy firm that focuses on implementing cutting-edge remote sensing and GIS. Her past endeavors include cofounding and leading Pacific Meridian Resources and serving as president of Space Imaging Solutions. She serves on the boards of several advisory committees, including the Department of the Interior’s National Geospatial Advisory Committee and NASA’s Applied Sciences Advisory Group, as well as the University of California at Berkeley’s Foundation Board of Trustees, the College of Natural Resources Advisory Committee, and the Geospatial Information Facility Advisory Committee. She coauthored the textbook Assessing the Accuracy of Remotely Sensed Data. She is a past president of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and the Management Association of Private Photogrammetric Surveyors. She earned a B.S. in forestry and management from the University of California, an M.S. in resource policy and management from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in agriculture and resource economics from Washington University. She is a member of the NRC Committee on Needs and Research Requirements for Land-Change Modeling, and her past service includes membership of the Panel on Confidentiality Issues Arising from the Integration of Remotely Sensed and Self-Identifying Data, the Committee on Beyond Mapping: The Challenges of New Technologies in the Geographic Information Sciences, and the Committee on Licensing Geographic Data and Services.
JOHN R. JENSEN is the Carolina Distinguished Professor and codirector of the GIS and Remote Sensing Center in the Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina. His research interests are in remote sensing of the environment, digital image processing, and biogeography. He has written four textbooks on these subjects, including Remote Sensing of the Environment: An Earth Resource Perspective, Introductory Digital Image Processing: A Remote Sensing Perspective (now in its third edition), and an electronic book on geospatial processing with interactive frames of instruction and animation. He is a current member of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis Remote Sensing Core Curriculum Committee and a former chair of the Commission on Education in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems for the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Dr. Jensen is a former president and current fellow of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, and he received that society’s Alan Gordon Memorial Award for significant achievements in remote sensing and photographic interpretation. He received his M.S. in geography from Brigham Young University and his Ph.D. in geography from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently a member of the NRC Committee on Future U.S. Workforce for Spatial Intelligence, and his extensive past NRC service includes membership of the Mapping Science Committee, the Committee on Extending Observations and Research Results to Practical Applications: A Review of NASA’s Approach, and the Committee on Floodplain Mapping Technologies.
DENNIS P. LETTENMAIER is the Robert and Irene Sylvester Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle. His areas of research interest are large-scale hydrology, hydrologic aspects of remote sensing, and hydrology-climate interactions. In addition to his service at the University of
Washington, he spent a year as visiting scientist at the USGS and spent time as the program manager of NASA’s Land Surface Hydrology Program at NASA Headquarters. He was a recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Huber Research Prize in 1990 and the AGU’s Hydrology Section Award in 2000. He is a fellow of the AGU, the American Meteorological Society, and the AAAS, and he is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the International Water Academy. He was the first chief editor of the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Hydrometeorology and is the president of the Hydrology Section of the AGU. He received a B.S., an M.S., and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Washington. He is a member of the NRC Committee on the Assessment of NASA’s Earth Science Programs, and he has served on many other NRC committees, including the Committee on Stabilization Targets for Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Concentrations, the Committee on Hydrologic Science, the Survey Steering Committee for Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future, and the Committee on Scientific Bases of Colorado River Basin Water Management.
BERRIEN MOORE III is dean of atmospheric and geographic Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. He also serves as Chesapeake Energy Corporation chair in climate studies, director of the National Weather Center, and vice president for Weather and Climate Programs. Most recently, Moore served as executive director of Climate Central, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank based in Princeton, New Jersey, and Palo Alto, California, which is dedicated to providing public, business, and civic leaders and policy makers with objective and understandable information about climate change and potential solutions. He has published extensively on the global carbon cycle, biogeochemistry, remote sensing, and environmental policy. Prior to heading Climate Central, Dr. Moore served for 20 years as the director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space at the University of New Hampshire and held the position of Distinguished University Professor. He earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Virginia. His extensive NRC service includes serving as a member of the Space Studies Board, chair of the Committee on Earth Studies, and co-chair of the survey steering committee for Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future.
DIANE E. PATAKI is associate professor of biology and director of the Urban Ecology Research Lab at the University of Utah. Formerly she directed the Center for Environmental Sciences and was an associate professor of Earth system science and ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on ecosystem ecology, urban ecology, and global change, especially with respect to the role of plants in human-dominated and urban ecosystems. Dr. Pataki is a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Board of Scientific Counselors and the Ecological Society of America’s Science Committee, and she is director of the Steele Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center. She is a fellow of the AGU and a recipient of its Macelwane medal for young scientists. She has a B.S. in environmental science from Barnard College and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in ecology from Duke University.
DAVID S. SCHIMEL is a senior scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology. Formerly, he was a chief science officer and principal investigator at the National Ecological Observatory Network, Inc. (NEON), where he served as CEO from 2006 to 2011. Prior to joining NEON he served as a senior terrestrial scientist in the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Climate and Global Dynamics Division and was founding codirector of the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry. His career has focused on studies of the large-scale effects of land management and climate change on ecosystem processes and has experience in managing large, complex research projects, remote sensing, data management, modeling, and the application of ecological research to science policy development. Dr. Schimel serves as the editor in chief of Ecological Applications for the Ecological Society of America. In 2007, he was one of the recipients of the Nobel Peace prize for his work on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. He has authored more than 150 papers on biochemistry and climate impacts on ecosystem processes. He earned a Ph.D. in ecology from Colorado State University. He is a member of the NRC Committee on Assessment of NASA’s Earth Science Programs, and he served on the Committee on Geophysical and Environmental Data, the Committee on Global Change Research, and the Committee on Atmospheric Chemistry, among others.
WALTER S. SCOTT is executive vice president and chief technical officer of DigitalGlobe, Inc. He founded –DigitalGlobe in 1992 as WorldView Imaging Corporation, which was the first company to receive a high-resolution commercial remote sensing license from the U.S. government. The company later became DigitalGlobe, and with the launch of the QuickBird-2 satellite that year, offered high-resolution commercial satellite imagery. Dr. Scott also served with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), where he became program leader for Brilliant Pebbles and was responsible for creating a series of hardware prototypes and conducting flight experiments. He has also served as assistant associate director of the LLNL Physics Department and was responsible for the development of new space-related programs and identification of promising technologies. Dr. Scott was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 2004 for the Rocky Mountain region in the emerging technology category. He has a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. He served previously as a member of the NRC Committee on Earth Studies.
WILLIAM F. TOWNSEND is an independent aerospace consultant. He is also a part-time advisor with Stellar Solutions, Inc., and co-owner of Townsend Aerospace Consulting, LLC. Previously, Mr. Townsend was the vice president and general manager of the Civil Space Systems Strategic Business Unit and then vice president of exploration systems at Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation. Prior to his appointment at Ball, he was deputy center director and program management council chair at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), where he oversaw the development, launch, and operation of all GSFC instruments, spacecraft, and missions and was closely involved with almost 60 missions during his NASA career, including more than 30 missions while at GSFC. At NASA headquarters, in the Earth Science Enterprise area, he held the positions of acting associate administrator, deputy associate administrator, deputy division director, and flight program branch chief, and he was program manager of the TOPEX/Poseidon, NASA Scatterometer, and Radarsat programs (all international Earth remote sensing missions). He has a BSEE from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Townsend is a member of the NRC standing Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space, is a past member of the Committee on Assessment of NASA’s Earth Science Program, and also served on the Committee on Cost Growth in NASA Earth and Space Science Missions.
HOWARD A. ZEBKER is professor of geophysics and electrical engineering at Stanford University. His research involves interferometric synthetic aperture radar imaging, Earth exploration from space, satellite remote sensing, planetary science, digital signal processing for geoscience applications, and electromagnetic scattering and propagation. His research is directed at studying the surfaces of Earth and planets, especially earthquakes, volcanoes, and human-induced subsidence, and of global environmental problems, such as the movement of ice in the polar regions. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty in 1995, Dr. Zebker was a member of the technical staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He earned a B.S. in engineering and applied science from the California Institute of Technology, an M.S. in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University. His prior NRC service includes membership on the Panel on Solid-Earth Hazards, Resources, and Dynamics and the Advanced Radar Technology Panel.
MARY LOU ZOBACK is currently a consulting professor in environmental Earth system science at Stanford University. Her main area of interest is active tectonics, with emphasis on the relationship between the in situ tectonic stress field and earthquake deformation. Dr. Zoback was formerly vice president for earthquake risk applications at Risk Management Solutions in Newark, California. She previously served as chief scientist of the USGS Earthquake Hazards team in Menlo Park, California, and also as regional coordinator for the Northern California Earthquake Hazards Program. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a past president of the Geological Society of America (GSA), and recipient of the 2007 GSA Day Medal, the 2007 GSA Public Service Award, the Leadership, Innovation, and Outstanding Accomplishments in Earthquake Risk Reduction Award from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, and the AGU Macelwane Award for Young Scientists. Dr. Zoback earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in geophysics from Stanford University. She is a member of the NRC Disasters Roundtable Steering Committee and the Committee on Increasing National Resilience to Hazards and Disasters. Her past NRC service also includes membership of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and
Public Policy, the Survey Steering Committee for Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future, and the NAS Council.
Staff
ABIGAIL A. SHEFFER, Study Director , joined the Space Studies Board (SSB) in fall 2009 as a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow to work on the report Visions and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 . She continued with the SSB to become an associate program officer. Dr. Sheffer earned her Ph.D. in planetary science from the University of Arizona and her A.B. in geosciences from Princeton University. Since coming to the SSB, she has worked on several studies, including Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies, Assessment of Impediments to Interagency Collaboration on Space and Earth Science Missions, and The Effects of Solar Variability on Earth’s Climate: A Workshop Report.
ARTHUR A. CHARO joined the SSB as a senior program officer in 1995. He has directed studies that have resulted in some 30 reports, notably the first NRC decadal survey in solar and space physics (2002) and in Earth science and applications from space (2007). Dr. Charo received his Ph.D. in physics from Duke University in 1981 and was a postdoctoral fellow in chemical physics at Harvard University from 1982 to 1985. He then pursued his interests in national security and arms control at Harvard University’s Center for Science and International Affairs, where he was a research fellow from 1985 to 1988. From 1988 to 1995, he worked as a senior analyst and study director in the International Security and Space Program in the U.S. Congress’s Office of Technology Assessment. Dr. Charo is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in International Security (1985-1987) and a Harvard-Sloan Foundation Fellowship (1987-1988). He was the 1988-1989 American Institute of Physics AAAS Congressional Science Fellow. In addition to NRC reports, he is the author of research papers in molecular spectroscopy, reports on arms control and space policy, and the monograph “Continental Air Defense: A Neglected Dimension of Strategic Defense” (University Press of America, 1990).
JOSEPH K. ALEXANDER, JR., is a private consultant in science and technology policy. He was a senior program officer with the SSB from 2005 until 2013, and he served as SSB director from 1998 until November 2005. Prior to joining the National Academies, he was deputy assistant administrator for science in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development, where he coordinated a broad spectrum of environmental science issues involving human health and ecology and led strategic planning and implementation of research planning. From 1993 to 1994, he was associate director of space sciences at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). He served concurrently as acting chief of the Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics. From 1987 until 1993, he was assistant associate administrator for space sciences and applications in the NASA Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA), where he coordinated planning and provided oversight of research programs in Earth science, space physics, astrophysics, solar system exploration, life science, and microgravity science. He also served from 1992 to 1993 as acting director of life sciences in OSSA. Other positions included deputy NASA chief scientist, senior policy analyst at the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and research scientist at GSFC.
LINDA M. WALKER, a senior project assistant, has been with the NRC since 2007. Before her assignment with the SSB, she was on assignment with the National Academies Press. Prior to working at the NRC, she was with the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy in Falls Church, Virginia. Ms. Walker has 28 years of administrative experience.
MICHAEL H. MOLONEY is the director of the SSB and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) at the NRC of the National Academies. Since joining the NRC in 2001, Dr. Moloney has served as a study director at the National Materials Advisory Board, the Board on Physics and Astronomy, the Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design, and the Center for Economic, Governance, and International Studies. In his time at the ASEB/SSB Dr. Moloney has overseen the production of more than 30 reports, including three decadal surveys (in planetary science, life and microgravity science, and solar and space physics), a prioritization of NASA space
technology roadmaps, as well as reports on issues such as NASA’s strategic direction, orbital debris, the future of NASA’s astronaut corps, and NASA’s flight research program. Before joining the SSB and ASEB in 2010, Dr. Moloney was associate director of the BPA and study director for the decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics (Astro2010). With 12 years’ experience at the NRC, Dr. Moloney has served as study director or senior staff for a series of reports on subject matters as varied as quantum physics, nanotechnology, cosmology, the operation of the nation’s helium reserve, new anticounterfeiting technologies for currency, corrosion science, and nuclear fusion. In addition to his professional experience at the Academies, Dr. Moloney has more than 7 years’ experience as a foreign-service officer for the Irish government—including serving at the Irish Embassy in Washington and the Irish Mission to the United Nations in New York. A physicist, Dr. Moloney did his Ph.D. work at Trinity College Dublin, in Ireland. He received his undergraduate degree in experimental physics at University College Dublin, where he was awarded the Nevin Medal for Physics.
