E
Biographical Information for Organizing Committee and Staff
PHILIP R. CHRISTENSEN, Co-Chair, is a Regents Professor at Arizona State University. He is also the Ed and Helen Korrick Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration. His research interests focus on the composition, processes, and physical properties of Mars, Earth, and other planetary surfaces. Dr. Christensen uses spectroscopy, radiometry, field observations, and numerical modeling to study the geology and history of planets and moons. A major facet of his research is the design and development of spacecraft instruments. He has built five science instruments that have flown on NASA’s Mars Observer, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, and the Mars Exploration Rover missions. Over the past decade he has studied urban environments and growth worldwide using satellite data and has developed an extensive K-12 education and outreach program to bring the excitement of science and exploration into the classroom. Dr. Christensen was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 2003, NASA’s Public Service Medal in 2005, and the G.K. Gilbert Award of the Geological Society of America in 2008. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the Geological Society of America. He received his Ph.D. in geophysics and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Christensen currently serves as co-chair of the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science and has previously served as a member of the NRC Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration and as chair of the Planetary Science Decadal Survey’s Mars Panel.
BRETT D. MOULDING, Co-Chair, is the director of the Utah Partnership for Effective Science Teaching and Learning. Mr. Moulding was the state science education specialist and coordinator of curriculum and then director of the curriculum and instruction before retiring in 2008. Mr. Moulding taught chemistry for 20 years at Roy High School in the Weber School District and served as the district teacher leader for 8 years. Mr. Moulding also served on the Board at the Triangle Coalition, the NAEP 2009 Framework Committee, and was the President of the Council of State Science Supervisors from 2003 to 2006. He was a member of the NRC’s Board on Science Education and a member of the committee that authored A Framework for K-12 Science Education. He subsequently served as a writing team leader for Achieve’s Next Generation Science Standards. Mr. Moulding has received the Governor’s Teacher Recognition Award, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, and the Award of Excellence from the Governor’s Science and Technology Commission. He graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. in chemistry with minors in biology, math, and physics. He has a M.S. in curriculum and instruction from Weber State University and an Administrative Supervisory Certificate from
Utah State University. Most recently, he has served on the NRC’s Committee on Conceptual Framework for New Science Education Standards and the Board on Science Education.
ALBERT BYERS is the associate executive director of services at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Prior to NSTA, Dr. Byers worked as an aerospace education specialist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). At NSTA, Dr. Byers provides strategic oversight and executive management of NSTA services that include the production, delivery, and evaluation of large-scale blended learning solutions that include NSTA conferences, competitions, summer academies and institutes, the NSTA Learning Center e-learning portal, SciLinks, and government partnerships. The NSTA Learning Center has more than 150,0000 active users spending hours online each week in self-directed learning experiences in collaboration with 90 school districts and 39 universities across the country. NSTA’s five annual conferences reach 18,000-20,000 individuals per year across 16 programming days, and teacher and student competitions reach tens of thousands annually. Dr. Byers serves on the primary technical working group for the Department of Education’s online communities of practice efforts, and was previously a delegate for the Department of Education at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, and as an expert panelist for the National Assessment of Education Progress Science Framework Prioritization working group. Dr. Byers earned his Ph.D. in science education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
HEIDI B. HAMMEL is executive vice president at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). Previously she served as a senior research scientist with the Space Science Institute, an independent research and education organization based in Boulder, Colorado. Her primary research interests are the outer planets and their satellites, with a specific focus on observational techniques. Dr. Hammel is a leading expert on the planet Neptune and was a member of the Imaging Science Team during the Voyager 2 spacecraft’s encounter with that planet in 1989. For the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in July 1994, Dr. Hammel led the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) team that investigated Jupiter’s atmospheric response to the collisions. Her latest research has focused on the imaging of Neptune and Uranus with the HST and on ground-based observations of Uranus. Dr. Hammel is the recipient of many awards, including the 1996 Urey Prize from the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (AAS/DPS) and the San Francisco Exploratorium’s 1998 Public Understanding of Science Award. More recently, Dr. Hammel was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2000 and received the AAS/DPS’s Sagan Medal for outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public in 2002. In addition, Asteroid 1981 EC20 has been renamed 3530 Hammel in her honor. She received her Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Hawaii. She has served on the NRC Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration and on the Panel on Solar System Exploration of the Committee on Priorities for Space Science Enabled by Nuclear Power and Propulsion: A Vision for Beyond 2015. In addition to serving on the Space Studies Board (SSB), Dr. Hammel served as chair of the Giant Planet Panel of the NRC’s Planetary Science Decadal Survey and most recently as a member of the SSB.
WESLEY L. HARRIS is the Charles Stark Draper Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and associate provost at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a former NASA associate administrator for aeronautics responsible for all aeronautics programs, facilities, and personnel (1993-1995). Prior to NASA, he was the University of Tennessee Space Institute’s vice president and chief administrative officer. His academic research with unsteady aerodynamics, aeroacoustics, rarefied gas dynamics, sustainment of capital asset, and chaos in sickle cell disease have made seminal contributions in these fields. As an elected fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and of the American Helicopter Society, Dr. Harris was recognized for personal engineering achievements, engineering education, management, and advancing cultural diversity. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, the Cosmos Club, and the Confrerie des Chavaliers du Tastevin. He earned his Ph.D. in aerospace and mechanical sciences from Princeton University. Dr. Harris currently serves on the NRC’s Laboratory Assessments Board and the Panel on Mechanical Science and Engineering at the Army Research Laboratory, and was the chair of the Committee on Review of Army Research Laboratory Programs for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions.
CHARLES F. KENNEL is a distinguished professor of atmospheric science emeritus in the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Dr. Kennel was the founding director of the UCSD Environment and Sustainability Initiative, an all-campus effort embracing teaching, research, campus operations, and public outreach, and is now chair of its international advisory board. His research covers plasma physics, space plasma physics, solar-terrestrial physics, plasma astrophysics, and environmental science and policy. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics. He was a member of the NASA Advisory Council from 1998 to 2006, its chair from 2001 to 2005, and is presently chair of the California Council on Science and Technology. He has had visiting appointments to the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Trieste), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (Boulder), the Ecole Polytechnique (Paris), California Institute of Technology (Pasadena), Space Research Institute (Moscow), and the University of Cambridge (U.K.). He is a recipient of the James Clerk Maxwell Prize (American Physical Society), the Hannes Alfven Prize (European Geophysical Society), the Aurelio Peccei Prize (Accademia Lincei), and the NASA Distinguished Service and Distinguished Public Service Medals. He was the 2007 C.P. Snow Lecturer at Christ’s College, Cambridge (U.K.). He earned his Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University. Dr. Kennel has served on numerous NRC committees and boards including the 2010 astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey follow-on—the Panel on Implementing Recommendations from New Worlds, New Horizons Decadal Survey. Dr. Kennel most recently served as chair of the NRC’s SSB.
JAMES MANNING is a consultant. He was the former head of the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute and the former executive director of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Mr. Manning has spent 39 years working in science education and public outreach (EPO), in production, presentation, teaching, and administration. For nearly three decades he worked at planetariums at the University of North Carolina, Parkland College, and Montana State University/Museum of the Rockies, developing and opening the latter two and serving as their director. His work included planetarium production and presentation, exhibit and program development, teacher professional development, and facility management. He also served a term as president of the International Planetarium Society. He has served on the astrophysics subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council, and he continues to consult on NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Education and Public Outreach efforts through the Astrophysics Science Education and Public Outreach Forum. He earned his M.A. in physics and astronomy from the University of North Carolina.
RICHARD A. McCRAY is a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the George Gamow Distinguished Professor of Astrophysics, emeritus, at the University of Colorado, Boulder (UCB). Dr. McCray’s research is in the theory and observations of the dynamics of the interstellar gas and cosmic X-ray sources, supernovae, and supernovae remnants. Prior to UCB, he was an assistant professor at the Harvard College Observatory, and he has also held visiting positions at the NASA GSFC, Beijing University and Nanjing University, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and Columbia University. In 1983 Dr. McCray was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and in 1990 he received the Dannie S. Heinemann Prize for Astrophysics of the American Physical Society. In 1989 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and his citation notes that “he is widely recognized as the world leader in theoretical x-ray astronomy.” In 1996 he was appointed concurrent professor of astronomy at Nanjing University. In 2002 he was awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Director’s Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars. Dr. McCray earned his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently serving on the NRC’s International Temporary Nominating Group for Class 1: Physical and Mathematical Sciences. His numerous prior committee service also includes the Board on Science Education, the Chair of Section: 12 Astronomy, and the SSB.
MITCHELL NATHAN is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (UW-Madison). At UW-Madison he also served as director of the Center on Education and Work, and as faculty member for the Latin American School for Education, Cognitive, and Neural Sciences. He holds affiliate appointments in the UW-Madison Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Department of Psychology, and
Wisconsin Center for Education Research. In research and development in artificial intelligence, computer vision, and robotic mobility, he has worked on the design and development of autonomous robotic arms and vehicles; the development of expert systems and knowledge engineering interview techniques; and the representation of perceptual and real-world knowledge to support inference making in dynamic environments. He has also worked on computer-based mathematics tutoring that relies heavily on students’ comprehension processes for self-evaluation and self-directed learning (so-called unintelligent tutoring systems). Dr. Nathan directed the project Supporting the Transition from Arithmetic to Algebraic Reasoning (STAAR; funded by the Interagency Education Research Initiative, IERI), which studied the transition from arithmetic to algebraic reasoning. He is co-principal investigator for both the AWAKEN Project (“Aligning educational experiences with Ways of Knowing Engineering”), which documents how people learn and use engineering, and the National Center for Cognition and Mathematics Instruction. He is a member of the steering committee for the Delta Program, which promotes the development of a national faculty in the natural and social sciences, engineering, and mathematics that is committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse student audiences. He received his Ph.D. in experimental (cognitive) psychology and holds a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering, mathematics, and history. He previously served as a member of the NRC Committee Toward Integrated STEM Education: Developing a Research Agenda.
PATRICIA H. REIFF is professor in the Department of Space Physics and Astronomy at Rice University. Dr. Reiff has been involved in space plasma physics research for more than 40 years, with interests in magnetospheric convection, magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, plasma particle acceleration mechanisms, and solar wind control of the magnetosphere and ionosphere of the Earth and Mercury. She was a co-investigator on the Dynamics Explorer, Polar, and IMAGE Missions, was a co-investigator for both science and public outreach for the PEACE electron spectrometer on Cluster II, is EPO lead for the MMS mission, and was on the EPO team for the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling. She provides real-time space weather alerts to about 1,000 subscribers. She has served as director for public education and teacher enhancement projects for more than 25 years. Her “Space Update” software has been used by more than 1 million visitors at more than 15 museums, and together with “Earth Update” and “Space Weather” has been distributed to more than 300,000 educators and learners. Her project “Immersive Earth,” in cooperation with the Houston Museum of Natural Science, created a full-dome digital planetarium that shows teaching Earth science, and has created a portable planetarium system “Discovery Dome” to teach Earth and Space Science through immersive digital theater, that is now in more than 220 sites in 33 countries and 33 states. These projects have spun off two companies, Space Update, Inc. and MTPE, to distribute educational materials and portable planetariums. She has served as editor or associate editor for EOS, Journal of Geophysical Research, and Reviews of Geophysics and has served on the editorial board of Space Weather. She has served on advisory committees for the NSF, NASA, and the National Academy of Sciences, among others. She has served as chair of the Council of Institutions of the Universities Space Research Association and serves on the Space, Physics, and Aeronomy Public Education Committee for the AGU. She was elected to the Cosmos Club in 1992, was selected as a fellow of the AGU in 1997, and received the AGU “Athelstan Spilhaus Award” for public education in 2009. She received the “Aerospace Educator Award” from Women in Aerospace in 1999 and the Service Award from the Northwest Amateur Radio Society in 2004. She received NASA “Group Achievement” awards for the IMAGE, GGS, and Cluster missions, and was an organizer for the World Space Congress in 2002. In 2013 she received the first-ever “Space Physics and Aeronomy Richard Carrington” award from the AGU. She has led many teacher workshops and scientific tours. In addition to training 12 Ph.D.’s, she created a “Master of Science Teaching” degree, with 27 teacher alumni as of 2014. Dr. Reiff earned her Ph.D. in space physics and astronomy at Rice University. She has previously served as a member on the NRC Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Research and as chair of the Panel on the International Magnetospheric Study.
THERESA SCHWERIN is founding officer and vice president of education programs for the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). She has more than 20 years of experience in the areas of science applications and education, communication, and information science. She leads IGES education initiatives, particularly the NASA Earth Science Education and Public Outreach Forum, IGES science contests for students, the Earth System Science Education Alliance, a NASA-NOAA-NSF sponsored project providing professional development for K-12
teachers, NASA Earth and Space Science Education Product Review, and a variety of NASA professional development and communication activities. She is also a key leader of nasawavelength.org—a digital library developed by IGES with the University of California, Berkeley. Wavelength provides robust tools for science educators—K-12, higher education, and out-of-school—for searching, browsing, and creating custom pathways and collections from NASA’s SMD portfolio of more than 2,000 educational resources, in ways that are most meaningful for educators. Ms. Schwerin has led a wide range of new efforts for organizations such as NASA, NOAA, the United Nations, WGBH Education Foundation, and the former Japanese National Space Development Agency (now part of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA). Her work has led to the planning, development, and implementation of international and national education programs, products, workshops, reviews, and conferences. Ms. Schwerin is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the NSTA, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Library Association. Ms. Schwerin’s related education experience also includes conducting children’s programs in a public library system. Ms. Schwerin holds a M.S. in library and information science from the University of Maryland and a B.S. in sociology from the College of Charleston.
STAFF
ABIGAIL A. SHEFFER is a program officer for the SSB. In fall 2009, Dr. Sheffer served as a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow for the National Academies and then joined the SSB as an associate program officer. Since joining the NRC, she has been study director on reports such as Landsat and Beyond—Sustaining and Enhancing the Nation’s Land Imaging Program and The Effects of Solar Variability on Earth’s Climate: A Workshop Report. Dr. Sheffer has been an assisting staff officer on several other reports, including Pathways to Exploration—Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration and Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society. Dr. Sheffer earned her Ph.D. in planetary science from the University of Arizona and A.B. in geosciences from Princeton University.
MICHAEL MOLONEY is the director for Space and Aeronautics at the SSB and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) of the NRC of the National Academies. Since joining the ASEB/SSB, Dr. Moloney has overseen the production of more than 40 reports, including four decadal surveys—in astronomy and astrophysics, planetary science, life and microgravity science, and solar and space physics—a review of the goals and direction of the U.S. human exploration program, 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 Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA) and study director for the decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics (Astro2010). Since joining the NRC in 2001, Dr. Moloney has served as a study director at the National Materials Advisory Board, the BPA, the Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design, and the Center for Economic, Governance, and International Studies. 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 anti-counterfeiting technologies for currency, corrosion science, and nuclear fusion. In addition to his professional experience at the National 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.
KATIE DAUD is a research associate for the SSB and the ASEB. Previously, she worked at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies as a planetary scientist. Ms. Daud was a triple major at Bloomsburg University, receiving a B.S. in planetary science and Earth science and a B.A. in political science.
ANESIA WILKS is a senior program assistant. She brings experience working in the National Academies conference management office as well as other administrative positions in the D.C.-metropolitan area. Ms. Wilks has a B.A. in psychology (magna cum laude) from Trinity University.
MICHELLE THOMPSON is a Ph.D. student in planetary sciences at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Her research is focused on understanding the effects of space weathering on airless body surfaces. Ms. Thompson uses transmission electron microscopy to study microstructural and microchemical signatures of space weathering in lunar and asteroidal surface samples returned from the NASA Apollo missions and the JAXA Hayabusa mission. She has received several awards for her presentations at scientific conferences and was recently awarded a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship for her research. She serves on several committees as a student in Tucson, including as a representative for the graduate students to the faculty, coordinator for visiting colloquium speakers, and organizer of non-academic career seminars for the students in her department. She has been keenly interested in science policy since beginning graduate school and is very excited for the opportunity to work with the SSB. She looks forward to bringing her experiences at the SSB with her while pursuing a career in planetary science.
ANGELA DAPREMONT is an intern at the SSB. Ms. Dapremont developed an interest in the merging of science and policy as a result of participating in meetings with congressional aides about science education and funding during her final year of undergraduate study. Previously, she has conducted research in the fields of algal ecology, renewable energy, natural hazards, and planetary geology. She has participated in internships focused on Mars geology at NASA Johnson Space Center and NASA GSFC. She graduated from the College of Charleston with a B.S. in geology and a minor in French and francophone studies in May of 2014.
This page intentionally left blank.
