National Academies Press: OpenBook

The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report (2017)

Chapter: Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members

« Previous: Appendix A: Statement of Task
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24809.
×

B

Biographical Information for Committee Members

JOSEPH K. ALEXANDER, Chair, is a consultant in science and technology policy at Alexander Space Policy Consultants. He was a senior program officer with the Space Studies Board (SSB) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 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 Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Research and Development where he coordinated a broad spectrum of environmental science and led strategic planning. From 1993 to 1994, he was associate director of space sciences at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and served concurrently as acting chief of the Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics. From 1987 until 1993, he was assistant associate administrator at NASA’s Office of Space Science and Applications where he coordinated planning and provided oversight of all scientific research programs. He also served from 1992 to 1993 as acting director of life sciences. Prior positions have included deputy NASA chief scientist, senior policy analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. His research interests were in radio astronomy and space physics. He has a B.A. and M.A. in physics from the College of William and Mary. He has served on the National Academies’ Committee on the Review of NASA’s Planetary Science Division’s Restructured Research and Analysis Programs.

DAVID P. FIDLER is the James Louis Calamaras Professor of Law at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and an adjunct senior fellow for cybersecurity at the Council of Foreign Relations. Professor Fidler works on international law and global governance across many policy areas, including cyberspace, global health, trade and investment, environmental protection, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and national/international security. His current research focuses on various aspects of national and international cybersecurity, including policy efforts to establish deterrence in cybersecurity policies. He is the recipient of a Fulbright New Century Scholar Award. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He served as a member of the National Academies’ Committee on Dual-Use Research of Concern: Options for Future Management, the Organizing Committee for the Workshop on the H5N1 Research Controversy and Dual-Use Research, and the Committee on Achieving Sustainable Global Capacity for Surveillance and Response to Emerging Diseases of Zoonotic Origin.

JOANNE I. GABRYNOWICZ is a professor emerita of space law and editor-in-chief emerita at the University of Mississippi at the Journal of Space Law. She is a visiting professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology School of Law. Dr. Gabrynowicz advises the U.S. government and the U.N. on space law. She has taught space law for 30 years, and taught at the University of North Dakota and the University of Mississippi. Dr. Gabrynowicz is a guest lecturer at universities around the world and the author of numerous articles. She is the recipient of a number of awards in the field, including Women in Aerospace’s Outstanding International Award and the International Institute of Space Law’s Lifetime Achievement award. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Gabrynowicz was the managing attorney of a New York City law firm. She is a member of the American Bar Association Forum on Aviation and Space Law and a director of the International Institute of Space Law. She earned her J.D. from the Benjamin N.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24809.
×

Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University. Dr. Gabrynowicz served on the National Academies’ Committee on the Assessment of NASA’s Orbital Debris Programs.

G. SCOTT HUBBARD is an adjunct professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University, the director emeritus of the Stanford Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE CST), and the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal New Space. He has been engaged in space-related research as well as program, project, and executive management for more than 40 years, including 20 years with NASA—culminating as director of NASA Ames Research Center. At Stanford, his research interests include the study of both human and robotic exploration of space, with a particular focus on technology and missions for planetary exploration, especially Mars. Examples include novel hybrid propulsion for applications such as a Mars Ascent Vehicle and drilling techniques for a future Mars sample return mission. He served as NASA’s first Mars program director and successfully restructured the entire Mars program in the wake of mission failures. His award-winning book, Exploring Mars: Chronicles from a Decade of Discovery, describes his work on NASA’s Mars Program. He previously served as the sole NASA representative on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board and directed the impact testing that established the definitive physical cause of the accident. He was the the founder of the NASA Astrobiology Institute; conceived the Mars Pathfinder mission with its airbag landing, and was the manager for NASA’s highly successful Lunar Prospector Mission. Prior to joining NASA, he was a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and directed a high-tech start-up company. He has received eight NASA medals, including NASA’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal. He currently chairs the SpaceX Commercial Crew Safety Advisory Panel and serves on the NASA Advisory Council as an at-large member. He has received several honorary doctorates and earned his B.A. in physics and astronomy at Vanderbilt University. He has served on the National Academies’ Committee on Planetary Science Decadal Survey: 2013-2022, the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science, and the Committee on the Review of NASA’s Planetary Science Division’s Research and Analysis Programs.

EUGENE H. LEVY is the Andrew Hays Buchanan Professor of Astrophysics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University. Dr. Levy’s research interests focus on theoretical cosmic physics, with emphasis on elucidating mechanisms and processes that underlie physical phenomena in planetary and astrophysical systems. His research also includes the generation and influences of magnetic fields in natural bodies, including Earth, the Sun, and the planets; the theory of cosmic rays; and the theory of physical processes associated with the formation of the solar system, stars, and other planetary systems. Prior to joining Rice University, Dr. Levy served in various capacities at the University of Arizona, including as dean of the College of Science, head of the Planetary Science Department and director of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, and professor of planetary science. He has won multiple awards, including the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Senior Scientist Award by the Federal Republic of Germany, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Distinguished Leadership Award through the University of Arizona, and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal. Dr. Levy received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago. He has served on various committees at the National Academies, including the Committee for US-USSR Workshop on Planetary Sciences, the ad hoc Panel on Mars Sample Return, and the Planetary and Lunar Exploration Task Group.

NORINE E. NOONAN is a professor of biological science at the University of South Florida (USF) at St. Petersburg. Her research includes science and technology policy in the government sector, specifically with regards to space science. Dr. Noonan has more than 30 years of experience serving in both the public and academic sector as the vice chancellor for academic affairs at USF-St. Petersburg, dean in the School of Sciences and Math at the College of Charleston, and as the branch chief of the Science and Space office at the Office of Management and Budget. Her professional activities have included membership on six National Science Foundation (NSF) advisory committees, two of which she chaired. She has also served as an expert reviewer for EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) and

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24809.
×

INBRE (IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence) programs in two states. In October 2005, she received the NASA Public Service Medal, the highest civilian honor the agency can bestow. Dr. Noonan received her Ph.D. in cell biology and biochemistry from Princeton University. She has served on the National Academies’ Committee on the Assessment of Solar System Exploration and the Board on Radioactive Waste Management.

KENNETH OLDEN is retired from the EPA. He is an environmental risk assessor who was director of the National Center for Environmental Assessment and Human Health Risk Assessment Research Program at the EPA. Prior to that, he was the founding dean of a new School of Public Health on the Hunter College campus of the City University of New York. He also served as director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Nation Toxicology Program in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 1977, he became the first African American to be awarded tenure and the rank of independent investigator at the National Institutes of Health. He held several positions at the Howard University Cancer Center, including director, professor, and chairman of the Department of Oncology. Dr. Olden is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award from President William J. Clinton, the Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award, the Calver Award, the Sedgwick Medal, and the Julius B. Richmond Award. He received a Ph.D. in cell biology and biochemistry from Temple University. Dr. Olden served as chair of the National Academies’ Medical Follow-up Agency Advisory Committee.

FRANCOIS RAULIN is professor emeritus at Université Paris Est Créteil and develops his research at LISA (Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques). His scientific fields of interest are related to planetology and exo/astrobiology, including the planetary protection aspects—studies of organic chemistry in extraterrestrial environments (Titan, giant planets, comets, and Mars) using complementary approaches, such as laboratory experiments (experimental simulations, IR and UV spectral data, analytical techniques by GC, GC-MS and Pyr-GC-MS); theoretical modeling (using microphysics, kinetics, and thermodynamics); observational data: remote sensing (IR) and in situ (GC-MS) space exploration. He was a research fellow at Carl Sagan’s Laboratory, Cornell University, an assistant professor at University Paris Val de Marne and a CNRS/NSF post-doctoral fellow at Cyril Ponnamperuma’s Laboratory of Chemical Evolution, University of Maryland. He later became full professor at University Paris 12, where he developed his researches at PCOS (Space Organic Physical Chemistry) group of the Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA). Awards include ESA Award for outstanding contribution to the Huygens probe, a NASA Group Achievement Award, an ISSOL Fellow Award, a Chevalier de la Légion, and an Officier des Palmes Académiques. He was director of LISA and director of the federation of CNRS laboratories in Exobiology (GDR Exobio). He was president of SFE (French Society of Exobiology) and is a member (and former chair) of the Planetary Protection Working Group of the European Space Agency (ESA). He is co-investigator of CIRS (Cassini), ACP, and GC-MS (Huygens). He is also IDS of the Cassini-Huygens mission (Titan’s Chemistry and Exobiology) and is co-investigator of the COSAC and COSIMA experiments of the Rosetta European cometary mission. He is deputy team leader of the MOMA experiment of the ExoMars mission. He is a member of HESAC (ESA Human Spaceflight and Exploration Science Advisory Committee). He received his doctorat d’etat (on the role of sulphur in prebiotic chemistry) from the Université Paris 6.

GARY RUVKUN is professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Ruvkun’s laboratory identified the first microRNA that is conserved across animal phylogeny, including humans. Thousands of microRNAs have subsequently been discovered. Dr. Ruvkun has also explored how bacterial attacks on animals are surveilled and countermeasures are deployed. Using comparative genomics, his laboratory has been exploring the few hundred genes that are universal to all known life on Earth, inherited from a common ancestor over the

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24809.
×

past 3 to 4 billion years. Meteoritic exchange between Earth and Mars may have innoculated both planets with related ancestral organisms, allowing the sophisticated DNA technology of genomics to be marshalled to the detection of life on Mars. To this end, Dr. Ruvkun is collaborating with Chris Carr and Maria Zuber at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a NASA MATISSE project to engineer a DNA-sequencing instrument that will be deployed to other planets to search for life that is ancestrally related to life on Earth. Dr. Ruvkun is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the NAM, and his honors and awards include the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (with Victor Ambros and David Baulcombe), the Dan David Prize for Aging Research (with Cynthia Kenyon), the Wolf Prize (with Victor Ambros), the Gruber Prize (with Victor Ambros and David Baulcombe), and the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. Dr. Ruvkun has a Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard University. He has served on the National Academies’ Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life and the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science and is currently serving on the planning committee for Searching for Life Across Space and Time: A Workshop.

MARK P. SAUNDERS is an independent consultant. Since retiring from NASA, he has been consulting to various NASA offices providing program/project management and systems engineering expertise. This has included support to the Office of Chief Engineer, the Office of Independent Program and Cost Evaluation, the Mars Program, and the Science Office for Mission Assessments (at NASA’s Langley Research Center, LaRC). He has participated in the rewriting of NASA’s policy on program/project management; advised and supported the agency’s independent program/project review process; and has supported the review of various programs and projects. At NASA Headquarters, he served as director of the independent program assessment office, where he was responsible for enabling the independent review of the agency’s programs and projects at life-cycle milestones to ensure the highest probability of mission success. At LaRC, he was initially the deputy director and then the director of the Space Access and Exploration Program Office and had the responsibility for planning, directing, and coordinating the center’s research, technology, and flight programs for advanced aerospace transportation and human/robotic exploration systems. Prior to this, he was the manager of Exploration Programs and led all LaRC space exploration research and development activities supporting the agency’s Aerospace Technology, Human Exploration and Development of Space, and Space Science Enterprises. At the Office of Space Science, he served as program manager for the Discovery Program, and at the Space Station Freedom Program operations, he served as special assistant to the deputy director. He received the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award, Outstanding Performance awards, and multiple NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals. He earned his B.A. at the Georgia Institute of Technology in industrial engineering. He has served on the National Academies’ Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science.

BETH A. SIMMONS is the Andrea Mitchell University Professor of Law and Political Science in the Department of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Her area of expertise is primarily in international relations, international law, and international political economy, with her most current research interests, including the ways in which international institutions shape and are shaped by domestic political systems and global performance assessments as informal governance mechanisms in international affairs. Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Simmons was a professor of international affairs at Harvard University, director of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, and president of the International Studies Association. She received the American Political Science Association’s Woodrow Wilson Award for best book published in the United States on government, politics, or international affairs for two of her books—Who Adjusts? Domestic Sources of Foreign Economic Policy During the Interwar Years and Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics. She received her Ph.D. in government from Harvard University. Dr. Simmons is a member of the NAS and has served on several National Academies’ committees, including the Division Committee for the Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education and the Committee on Human Rights of the NAS, NAE, and NAM.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24809.
×

PERICLES D. STABEKIS is an independent consultant. He is retired from his position as program manager and aerospace consultant with the SETI Institute. His seminal contributions are in planetary protection. He has supported the NASA Planetary Protection (PP) program as a principal investigator, program manager, and consultant. He has worked with all of the NASA planetary protection officers, lending his expertise to the development and definition of planetary protection policy and requirements for outbound and inbound planetary missions; providing advice to international partners on requirements and methods of implementation; contributing to strategic planning and programmatic development; helping to guide NASA efforts in PP-related new technology development; and monitoring PP-related activities of ongoing flight projects. In his 46-year career, Mr. Stabekis worked for Exotech Systems, GE, Lockheed Martin, Windermere, Northrop Grumman, and Genex Systems. He contributed to and managed contracts supporting NASA’s Exobiology, Astrobiology, and Life Sciences programs. He was the Lockheed flight program manager of the NASA Life Sciences’ flagship shuttle missions SLS-1 and SLS-2, as well as IML-1 and IML-2. He is a recognized expert in the field and has authored and co-authored a number of technical and policy papers. He has received numerous awards throughout his career, including the NASA Public Service Medal, the SLS-2 Group Achievement Award, and the SLS-1 Group Achievement Award. He received his M.S. in aerospace engineering from Howard University.

ANDREW STEELE is a senior staff scientist at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Prior to this, he was a National Research Council postdoctoral scientist at NASA Johnson Space Center and a visiting research fellow at Oxford University. At Carnegie he has worked on the question of life detection in the solar system with an emphasis on Mars. Among his research achievements are the discovery of discrete carbonaceous phases on Mars and the Moon; helping to advance the understanding of volatile cycling on Earth, the Moon, meteorites, and comets; developing a robust strategy for life detection on solar system bodies; and involvement in the testing and data reduction of planetary mission data from the Stardust, Apollo, Curiosity, and Rosetta missions. He has a highly technical background in using biological chemical and geological instrumentation to address the science questions he pursues in particular the search for life elsewhere. He has also played a role in the science definition of the Mars 2020 mission and, apart from being a co-investigator on the SHERLOC instrument, is an active member of two committees seeking to define the conditions for the safe and clean return of samples by Mars2020 and beyond. He has served on many committees on Mars exploration for the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group, chairing the Astrobiology Field Laboratory mission concept team, and the NASA Advisory Council as a member of the PP subcommittee. He received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Portsmouth and has served as a member of the National Academies’ Committee on the Origin and Evolution of Life.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24809.
×
Page 17
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24809.
×
Page 18
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24809.
×
Page 19
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24809.
×
Page 20
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Information for Committee Members." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24809.
×
Page 21
Next: Appendix C: Presentations to the Committee »
The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report Get This Book
×
Buy Ebook | $9.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

Solar system exploration is in an extraordinary state of expansion. Scientific capabilities to search for evidence of extant or relic life outside Earth—among the principal goals of solar system exploration—are advancing rapidly. In this time of rapid transition in exploring solar system bodies, the importance of reexamining planetary protection policies, including the need for clarity in how NASA establishes such policies, has become more urgent. Overall, this study seeks to review the current state of planetary protection policy development, assess the responsiveness of the policy development process to contemporary and anticipated needs, and recommend actions that might assure the effectiveness of NASA’s future coordination and execution of planetary protection. This interim report focuses on the goals of and rationales for planetary protection policies and suggests a working definition of planetary protection consistent with those goals. It does not address future commercial planetary missions, human missions to planetary bodies, or roles and responsibilities for implementing policies, but these issues will be addressed in the final report.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!