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Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey (2012)

Chapter: Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
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F


Committee and Staff Biographical Information

DENNIS L. HARTMANN, Chair, is a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington, where he served as chair and as interim dean of the College of the Environment. He is also the chair of the board of trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). His main research interests are in low-frequency variability in the atmosphere and climate system, stratospheric ozone, global climate change, large-scale dynamics, and the radiative energy balance of Earth. His primary areas of expertise are atmospheric dynamics, radiation and remote sensing, and mathematical and statistical techniques for data analysis. Dr. Hartmann is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean. He is a recipient of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Portland and a Ph.D. in geophysical fluid dynamics from Princeton University. Dr. Hartmann previously served on the National Research Council (NRC) Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, the Committee on Scientific Accomplishments of Earth Observations from Space, and the Committee for Review of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program’s Synthesis and Assessment Product on Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere.

MARK R. ABBOTT is dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University at Corvallis. His research focuses on the interaction of biological and physical processes in the upper ocean, remote sensing of ocean color and sea surface temperature, phytoplankton fluorescence, and length and time scales of phytoplankton variability. He deployed the first array of bio-optical moorings in the Southern Ocean as part of the U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS). Dr. Abbott has chaired the U.S. JGOFS Science Steering Committee and was a member of the MODIS and SeaWiFS science teams. He is currently a member of the board of trustees for the Consortium for Ocean Leadership and a member of the National Science Board. Dr. Abbott was also a member of the NRC’s Space Studies Board and chaired its Committee on Earth Studies. Other prior NRC experience includes serving on the Committee on Indicators for Understanding Global Climate Change, the Committee on the Role and Scope of Mission-Enabling

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
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Activities in NASA’s Space and Earth Sciences Missions, and the Panel on Land-Use Change, Ecosystem Dynamics, and Biodiversity for the 2007 decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space.

RICHARD A. ANTHES is president emeritus of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. His research has focused on the understanding of tropical cyclones and mesoscale meteorology and on the radio occultation technique for sounding Earth’s atmosphere. Dr. Anthes is a fellow of the AMS, receiving the AMS Clarence I. Meisinger Award and the Jule G. Charney Award and also serving as president of the AMS in 2007. Dr Anthes is a fellow of the AGU, as well. In 2003, he was awarded the Friendship Award by the Chinese government, the most prestigious award given to foreigners, for his contributions to atmospheric sciences and weather forecasting in China, and is also currently a member of the Global Positioning System (GPS) Scientific Application Research Center based out of Taiwan’s National Central University. Dr. Anthes received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prior NRC service includes chairing the National Weather Service Modernization Committee from 1996 to 1999 and the Committee on NASA-NOAA Transition of Research to Operations in 2002-2003, and co-chairing the committee for the 2007 decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space. He was a member of the Space Studies Board’s Committee on Earth Studies until 2010.

PHILIP E. ARDANUY is a principal engineering fellow at Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems and serves as chief technologist and chief scientist on multiple NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Environmental Protection Agency projects. He specializes in developing integrated mission concepts through government-industry-academic partnerships. His research and development career extends across net-centric and system-of-systems concepts; remote sensing applications and systems engineering; the research-to-operational transition; telepresence-telescience-telerobotics; tropical meteorology and modeling; Earth’s radiation budget (ERB) and climate (as member of the Nimbus-7 ERB science team); satellite instrument calibration, characterization, and validation; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education; and public outreach. Dr. Ardanuy’s prior NRC service includes membership on the Committee on Earth Studies; the Panel on Options to Ensure the Climate Record from the NPOESS and GOES-R Spacecraft; the Committee on Environmental Satellite Data Utilization; and the Panel on Earth Science Applications and Societal Benefits for the 2007 decadal survey of Earth science and applications from space. Dr. Ardanuy received his doctorate in meteorology from Florida State University. He has served on the NOAA Science Advisory Board’s Environmental Information Services Working Group, UCAR’s Weather Coalition, SPIE’s Remote Sensing System Engineering Conference as co-chair, and NOAA’s CREST Institute External Advisory Board. He is a member of the board of directors and president emeritus of the Maryland Space Business Roundtable, and he currently chairs the AMS Satellite Meteorology, Oceanography, and Climatology committee. Dr. Ardanuy is a fellow of the AMS, and he has been the recipient of multiple NASA group achievement awards, the Raytheon Excellence in Business Development Award, and the Raytheon Peer Award. He has more than 100 publications to his name, including articles in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and conference presentations.

STACEY W. BOLAND is a senior systems engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is the Observatory System Engineer for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) Earth System Science Pathfinder mission. She is also a cross-disciplinary generalist specializing in Earth-mission concept development and systems engineering and mission architecture development for advanced (future) Earth observing mission concepts. Dr. Boland received her B.S. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from California Institute of Technology. Dr. Boland was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2009. She has served as a consultant to the NRC Earth Science

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
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and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future Committee; the Panel on Options to Ensure the Climate Record from the NPOESS and GOES-R Spacecraft; and Committee on a Strategy to Mitigate the Impact of Sensor Descopes and Demanifests on the NPOESS and GOES-R Spacecraft. Dr. Boland recently completed membership on the NRC Committee on Assessment of Impediments to Interagency Cooperation on Space and Earth Science Missions.

ANTONIO J. BUSALACCHI, JR., is director of the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center and a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the University of Maryland. His research interests include tropical ocean circulation and its role in the coupled climate system and climate variability and predictability. Dr. Busalacchi has been involved in the activities of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) for many years and currently is chair of the Joint Scientific Committee that oversees the WCRP. He previously was co-chair of the scientific steering group for its subprogram on climate variability and predictability. Dr. Busalacchi received a B.S. in physics from Florida State University, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in oceanography from Florida State University. He has served extensively on NRC activities, including as chair of the Climate Research Committee and Committee on a Strategy to Mitigate the Impact of Sensor Descopes and Demanifests on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Spacecraft, and as a member of the Committee on Earth Studies, the Panel on the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Program, and the Panel on Ocean Atmosphere Observations Supporting Short-Term Climate Predictions. Dr. Busalacchi currently serves as chair of the NRC’s Board on Atmospheric Sciences, and is co-chair of the Committee on National Security Implications of Climate Change on U.S. Naval Forces, and recently completed service on the Committee on Assessment of Impediments to Interagency Cooperation on Space and Earth Science Missions, and the Committee on the Effect of Climate Change on Indoor Air Quality and Public Health.

ANNY CAZENAVE is a senior scientist at the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) and deputy director of the Laboratory for Space Studies in Geophysics and Oceanography. Dr. Cazenave’s major areas of research focus on the application of satellite geodesy to climate change, sea level variation, and large-scale continental hydrology. She is a member of the Global Geodetic Observing System scientific panel and lead author on IPCC Working Group I for Ocean Climate and Sea-level. She is past president of the Geodesy Section of the European Geophysical Union (EGU) and was its Vening-Meinesz Medalist in 1999. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the Academia Europaea, the the Académie de l’Air et de l’Espace, and she is a fellow of the AGU. Her honors include Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and election to the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Cazenave received her Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Toulouse. Prior NRC service includes membership on the Committee on National Requirements for Precision Geodetic Infrastructure, the Panel on Water Resources and the Global Hydrologic Cycle for the 2007 decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space, and the Committee to Review NASA’s Solid Earth Science Strategy.

RUTH S. DeFRIES is the Denning Professor of Sustainable Development at Columbia University. Before joining Columbia University, Dr. DeFries was a professor at the University of Maryland, where she held joint appointments in the Department of Geography and the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center. Her research investigates the relationships between human activities, the land surface, and the biophysical and biogeochemical processes that regulate Earth’s habitability. She is interested in observing land-cover and land-use change on regional and global scales with remotely sensed data and exploring the implications for ecological services, such as climate regulation, the carbon cycle, and biodiversity. Dr. DeFries

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
×

received a B.A. in earth science from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Ph.D. in geography and environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the AGU and the AAAS. Prior NRC experience includes serving as a chair of the NRC Committee on Earth System Science for Decisions about Human Welfare: Contributions of Remote Sensing, as a member of the Geographical Sciences Committee, and as a member of the survey committee for the 2007 decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space. She is currently a member of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences Editorial Board, and the NRC Committee on Climate, Energy, and National Security.

LEE-LUENG FU is a JPL fellow and a senior research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. He has been the project scientist for JPL’s satellite altimetry missions since 1988, including TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason, and Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2. He is currently the project scientist for the U.S./France joint Surface Water and Ocean Topography Mission (SWOT), which is being developed as the next-generation altimetry mission for measuring water elevation on Earth. Dr. Fu’s research has been focused on the dynamics of ocean waves and currents ranging from small-scale internal gravity waves to ocean basin-scale circulation. He received a B.S. degree in physics from National Taiwan University (1972) and a Ph.D. in oceanography from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1980). He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society. Recently he was awarded the COSPAR International Cooperation Medal for his leadership in the development and continuation of satellite altimetry missions.

BRADFORD H. HAGER is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Earth Sciences in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Hager is an expert in using precise measurements of ground deformation derived from GPS (Global Positioning System) observations and laser ranging, as well as interferometric synthetic aperture radar measurements to study earthquakes, seismic hazards, hydrocarbon reservoir mechanics, and underground CO2 storage. While teaching at the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Hager began the GPS field experiment that led to the discovery of rapid strain accumulation in the epicentral region of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. He has been involved in other similar field projects around the world, including in the Tien Shan Mountains of central Asia and the Southern Alps in New Zealand. Dr. Hager was co-chair of NASA’s DESDynI Science Study Group, a satellite mission to measure deformation of the land surface and ice sheets, as well as changes in terrestrial biomass. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and a recipient of AGU’s Macelwane Medal, as well as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a recipient of the Geological Society of America’s Woolard Award and the European Geophysical Union’s Love Medal. Dr. Hager received a B.A. in physics from Amherst College, an M.A. in geology from Harvard University, and his Ph.D. in geophysics from Harvard University. He has previously served on the NRC Steering Committee for Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future, the Panel on Solid-Earth Hazards, Resources and Dynamics, the Committee to Review NASA’s Solid Earth Science Strategy, and the Committee for Review of the Science Implementation Plan of the NASA Office of Earth Science.

HUNG-LUNG (ALLEN) HUANG is a Distinguished Scientist of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a senior research scientist at the university’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellites Studies (CIMSS), which operates as an institute within the Space Science Engineering Center (SSEC). While at CIMSS/SSEC, Dr. Huang has been conducting remote sensing research in the areas of atmospheric sounding

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
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retrieval, information content analysis, satellite and aircraft high-spectral resolution sounding instrument data processing, data compression, instrument design and performance analysis, cloud-clearing, cloud property characterization, synergistic imaging, and sounding data processing and algorithm development. Dr. Huang is also principal investigator of the NASA-funded International Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer/Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Instrument Processing project, the NOAA Integrated Program Office International Polar Orbiter Processing Package, and the NASA Field Programmable Gate Array Re-Configurable Computation Demonstration project, and he is the program manager and lead scientist of algorithm development for the NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R risk reduction project. He is a member of the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), the AMS, the Optical Society of America, and the International Radiation Commission. Dr. Huang received a B.S. in atmospheric science from National Taiwan University and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. For the NRC, he served as chair of the Committee on Utilization of Environmental Satellite Data: A Vision for 2010 and Beyond and as a member of the Committee on Earth Studies.

ANTHONY C. JANETOS is director of the Joint Global Change Research Institute, part of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, with research-affiliate status at the University of Maryland. Earlier, he was a senior research fellow at the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment. In 1999, he joined the World Resources Institute as senior vice president and chief of programs. Previously, he served as senior scientist for the Land-Cover and Land-Use Change Program in NASA’s Office of Earth Science and was program scientist for the Landsat 7 mission. He had many years of experience in managing scientific research programs on a variety of ecologic and environmental topics, including air-pollution effects on forests, climate change impacts, land-use change, ecosystem modeling, and the global carbon cycle. Dr. Janetos received his B.S. in biology from Harvard University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in biology from Princeton University. He was a co-chair of the U.S. National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change and an author of Land-Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (an IPCC special report) and Global Biodiversity Assessment. Prior NRC experience includes serving on the survey committee for the 2007 decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space, the Committee on Ecological Impacts of Climate Change, and the Climate Research Committee. Dr. Janetos is currently a member of the Committee on Socioeconomic Scenarios for Climate Change Impact and Response Assessments, and of the Space Studies Board.

DENNIS P. LETTENMAIER is the Robert and Irene Sylvester Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the head of the Surface Water Hydrology Research Group at the University of Washington. Dr. Lettenmaier’s interests cover hydroclimatology, surface water hydrology, and GIS and remote sensing. He was a recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Huber Research Prize in 1990, is a fellow of the AGU, AAAS, and the AMS, and is the author of more than 200 journal articles. He was the founding chief editor of the AMS Journal of Hydrometeorology and the president of the AGU Hydrology Section. He is a member of the International Water Academy and the National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Lettenmaier received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington, an M.S. in civil, mechanical, and environmental engineering from the George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Washington. He has previously served as a member on numerous NRC committees, including the Committee on Hydrologic Science: Studies of Strategic Issues in Hydrology, the survey committee for the 2007 decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space, and most recently the Committee on Stabilization Targets for Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Concentrations.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
×

JENNIFER A. LOGAN is a senior research fellow in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. Dr. Logan’s research focuses on analysis of satellite and in situ observations of tropospheric composition and their use in evaluation of processes in chemical transport models; causes of interannual variability and trends in tropospheric composition; trace gas budgets; the effects of climate change on fires and air quality; and trends in stratospheric ozone. Dr. Logan is a fellow of the AGU and the AAAS. She was a coauthor of the past several Scientific Assessments of Ozone Depletion. She received a B.Sc. in chemistry from the University of Edinburgh and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior NRC service includes membership on the Committee on the Role and Scope of Mission-Enabling Activities in NASA’s Space and Earth Science Mission, the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, and the Committee to Assess the North American Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone (NARSTO) Program.

MOLLY K. MACAULEY is vice president for research and a senior fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF), in Washington, D.C. RFF was established in 1952 upon request of a U.S. presidential commission and serves to advance economics research on environmental and natural resources. Dr. Macauley’s research at RFF includes studies on economics and policy issues of outer space, the valuation of non-priced space resources, the design of incentive arrangements to improve space resource use, and the appropriate relationship between public and private endeavors in space research, development, and commercial enterprise. Dr. Macauley serves as a visiting professor in the Department of Economics at Johns Hopkins University. She has frequently testified before Congress and serves on many national-level committees and panels. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the Board of Directors of the American Astronautical Society, the Board of Advisors of the Thomas Jefferson Public Policy Program at the College of William and Mary, and the Women in Aerospace Scholarship Fund. Dr. Macauley currently serves as a member of the NRC’s Space Studies Board. Prior NRC service includes the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, the Panel on Earth Science Applications and Societal Needs for the 2007 decadal survey on Earth sciences and applications from space, the Committee on the Assessment of NASA’s Orbital Debris Program, and the Science Panel of the Review of NASA Strategic Roadmaps. Her B.A. in economics is from the College of William and Mary and her Ph.D. in economics is from Johns Hopkins University.

ANNE W. NOLIN is a professor of remote sensing and physical geography at Oregon State University (OSU). Prior to her appointment at OSU, Dr. Nolin was a research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research interests include snow hydrology, polar climatology, the martian polar ice caps, and remote sensing of snow and ice from airborne and space-borne sensors. She specializes in mountain hydroclimatology, snow and ice in the climate system, and remote sensing. She is currently a member of the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) Science Team and was a NASA principal investigator for the validation of snow albedo retrievals from MISR and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). She received a B.A. from the University of Arizona in anthropology, an M.S. from the University of Arizona in soil science, and a Ph.D. in physical geography from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Nolin served as vice chair of the NRC Panel on Water Resources and the Global Hydrologic Cycle for the study “Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future,” was a member of the Committee on a Strategy to Mitigate the Impact of Sensor De-scopes and De-manifests on the NPOESS and GOES-R Spacecraft, and was also a member of the Committee on Earth Studies of the Space Studies Board.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
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JOYCE E. PENNER is the Ralph J. Cicerone Distinguished University Professor of Atmospheric Science and director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric Science and Environmental Research at the University of Michigan. Dr. Penner’s research focuses on improving climate models through the addition of interactive chemistry and the description of aerosols and their direct and indirect effects on the radiation balance in climate models. She is also interested in urban, regional, and global tropospheric chemistry and budgets, cloud and aerosol interactions and cloud microphysics, climate and climate change, and model development and interpretation. Dr. Penner has been a member of numerous advisory committees related to atmospheric chemistry, global change, and Earth science, including the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and, consequently, she shared in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize given to the IPCC. She was the coordinating lead author for IPCC (2001) Chapter 5 on aerosols. Dr. Penner received a B.A. in applied mathematics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Harvard University. She is currently a member of the NRC U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. Prior NRC service includes being a member of the Space Studies Board, the planning committee for the Workshop on Uncertainty Management in Remote Sensing of Climate Data, and the Panel on Climate Variability and Change for the 2007 decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space.

MICHAEL J. PRATHER is the Fred Kavli Chair and a professor in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. His current research focuses on atmospheric chemistry, uncertainties in projecting future composition, and model simulations of satellite observations of global ozone. Dr. Prather’s Ph.D. is in astronomy and astrophysics from Yale University, and he has since worked at Harvard University, NASA the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and NASA Headquarters, and he has taken a year at the U.S. State Department as a Jefferson Science Fellow. Dr. Prather served as editor-in-chief of Geophysical Research Letters (1997-2001) during AGU’s transition to electronic publishing. He has been lead author on World Meteorological Organization/UNEP ozone assessments since 1985, and IPCC climate assessments since 1994. Dr. Prather has served on numerous NRC committees, including the Committee on Methods for Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions, the Panel on Climate Variability and Change of the 2007 decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space, and the Committee for Review of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan.

DAVID S. SCHIMEL is the chief executive officer of the National Ecological Observatory Network, Inc. He was formerly the senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, Director of the Max Planck Institut fur Biogeochimie in Jena, Germany, and a senior scientist of the Natural Resources and Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University. His areas of scientific interest are in biogeochemistry, atmosphere-biosphere exchange, and carbon cycle and climate impacts. Dr. Schimel shared in the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded in 2007 to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, and he is editor in chief of Ecological Applications for the Ecological Society of America. He received his Ph.D. in ecology from Colorado State University. Dr. Schimel served on the NRC’s Panel on Land-Use Change, Ecosystem Dynamics, and Biodiversity for the 2007 decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space. He also served on the Committee on Geophysical and Environmental Data, among others.

WILLIAM F. TOWNSEND is an independent consultant and a part-time advisor with Stellar Solutions, Inc. He is also co-owner of Townsend Aerospace Consulting, LLC. Previously, Mr. Townsend worked at Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation. Mr. Townsend joined Ball in 2004 as the vice president and general manager of the Civil Space Systems Strategic Business Unit; his concluding position in 2008 was vice president of exploration systems. Mr. Townsend had a long career at NASA prior to his appointment

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
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at Ball. At Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) he was deputy center director and program management council chairperson, 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 was program manager of the TOPEX/Poseidon, NASA Scatterometer, and Radarsat programs (all international). At the NASA Wallops Flight Center, Mr. Townsend served as the SeaSat Radar Altimeter Experiment manager, an aerospace technologist, and an electronic technician apprentice. He holds a BSEE with honors from Virginia Tech. He is the recipient of two presidential rank, meritorious executive awards, two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the GSFC Robert C. Baumann Memorial Award for Mission Success, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and the French Space Agency’s Bronze Medal. Mr. Townsend served on the NRC’s Committee on Cost Growth in NASA Earth and Space Science Missions.

THOMAS H. VONDER HAAR is the emeritus director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) and a university distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University. His research included work on Earth’s radiation budget and fundamental relationships with the climate system and incorporated some of the first results of direct solar irradiance measurements from satellites and the exchange of energy between Earth and space. His studies on the interaction of clouds, water vapor, and radiation and the general circulation formed a basis for national and international plans leading to the Global Energy and Water Experiment and other programs related to global change. In 1980, Dr. Vonder Haar spearheaded the formation of CIRA, a center for international cooperation in research and training, covering virtually all physical, economic, and societal aspects of weather and climate. CIRA was established to increase the effectiveness of atmospheric research in areas of mutual interest between Colorado State and NOAA. Dr. Vonder Haar has also served as director of the Center for Geosciences, a Department of Defense-sponsored research center that focuses on the study of weather patterns and how they affect military operations, including investigations of fog, cloud layering, cloud drift winds, and dynamics of cloud persistence as detected from satellites. Dr. Vonder Haar is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He received his B.S. in aeronautics from St. Louis University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Dr. Vonder Haar currently serves on the NRC’s Special Fields and Interdisciplinary Engineering Peer Committee. Prior NRC service includes serving as a member of the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, the Panel on Options to Ensure the Climate Record from the NPOESS and GOES-R Spacecraft, and the Panel on Weather Science and Applications for the 2007 decadal survey on Earth science and applications from space.

Staff

ARTHUR A. CHARO, Study Director, joined the Space Studies Board (SSB) in 1995 as a senior program officer. He has directed studies that have resulted in some 33 reports, notably the first NRC decadal survey in solar and space physics (2003) 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-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
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Sloan Foundation Fellowship (1987-1988). He was also 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).

CATHERINE A. GRUBER, editor, joined the SSB as a senior program assistant in 1995. Ms. Gruber first came to the NRC in 1988 as a senior secretary for the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board and also worked as an outreach assistant for the National Science Resources Center. She was a research assistant (chemist) in the National Institute of Mental Health’s Laboratory of Cell Biology for 2 years. She has a B.A. in natural science from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

LEWIS B. GROSWALD, research associate, joined the SSB as the Autumn 2008 Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Intern. Mr. Groswald is a graduate of George Washington University, where he received a master’s degree in international science and technology policy and a bachelor’s degree in international affairs, with a double concentration in conflict and security and Europe and Eurasia. Following his work with the National Space Society during his senior year as an undergraduate, Mr. Groswald decided to pursue a career in space policy, with a focus on educating the public on space issues and formulating policy. He has worked on NRC reports covering a wide range of topics, including near-Earth objects, orbital debris, life and physical sciences in space, and planetary science.

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.

DANIELLE PISKORZ, a SSB Lloyd V. Berkner space policy intern, grew up on Long Island, New York, and recently graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in physics and a minor in applied international studies. She has done various research projects at L’Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, Los Alamos National Laboratories, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and spent her junior year studying at the University of Cambridge. Ms. Piskorz plans to begin her graduate studies in Fall 2012 in geophysics.

MICHAEL H. MOLONEY is the director of the SSB and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board at the NRC. 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 (BPA), the Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design, and the Center for Economic, Governance, and International Studies. Before joining the SSB and ASEB in April 2010, he was associate director of the BPA and study director for the Astro2010 decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics. In addition to his professional experience at the NRC, Dr. Moloney has more than 7 years’ experience as a foreign-service officer for the Irish government and served in that capacity at the Embassy of Ireland in Washington, D.C., the Mission of Ireland to the United Nations in New York, and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin, Ireland. A physicist, Dr. Moloney did his graduate 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.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
×
Page 98
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
×
Page 99
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
×
Page 100
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
×
Page 101
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
×
Page 102
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
×
Page 103
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
×
Page 104
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographical Information." National Research Council. 2012. Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13405.
×
Page 105
Next: Appendix G: Acronyms and Abbreviations »
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Understanding the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment and their implications requires a foundation of integrated observations of land, sea, air and space, on which to build credible information products, forecast models, and other tools for making informed decisions.

The 2007 National Research Council report on decadal survey called for a renewal of the national commitment to a program of Earth observations in which attention to securing practical benefits for humankind plays an equal role with the quest to acquire new knowledge about the Earth system. NASA responded favorably and aggressively to this survey, embracing its overall recommendations for Earth observations, missions, technology investments, and priorities for the underlying science. As a result, the science and applications communities have made significant progress over the past 5 years.

However, the Committee on Assessment of NASA's Earth Science Program found that the survey vision is being realized at a far slower pace than was recommended, principally because the required budget was not achieved. Exacerbating the budget shortfalls, NASA Earth science programs experienced launch failures and delays and the cost of implementing missions increased substantially as a result of changes in mission scope, increases in launch vehicle costs and/or the lack of availability of a medium-class launch vehicle, under-estimation of costs by the decadal survey, and unfunded programmatic changes that were required by Congress and the Office of Management and Budget. In addition, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has made significant reductions in scope to its future Earth environmental observing satellites as it contends with budget shortfalls.

Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Midterm Assessment of NASA's Implementation of the Decadal Survey recommends a number of steps to better manage existing programs and to implement future programs that will be recommended by the next decadal survey. The report also highlights the urgent need for the Executive Branch to develop and implement an overarching multiagency national strategy for Earth observations from space, a key recommendation of the 2007 decadal survey that remains unfulfilled.

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