Appendix C
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
David T. Sandwell (NAS), Chair, is a professor of geophysics at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Sandwell’s research interests are focused on mapping large-scale topographic features beneath the ocean using data collected by remote-sensing instruments on satellites orbiting the Earth and sonars on research vessels. He co-chaired the National Academies 2017 Decadal Survey Panel on Earth Surface and Interior and was a member of the Committee on National Requirements for Precise Geodetic Infrastructure. Dr. Sandwell is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Geophysical Union, and the Geological Society of America, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He earned a B.S. in physics from the University of Connecticut, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in geophysics and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Srinivas Bettadpur is an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics and director of the Center for Space Research at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Bettadpur’s areas of expertise are orbital mechanics, perturbations, and orbit determination; space geodesy, including multi-technique space-geodetic methods for precision global reference frames; and determination and interpretation of the Earth’s gravity field. He is a recipient of the Vening Meinesz Medal from the European Geosciences Union and several National Aeronautics and Space Administration awards for his work determining the time-variable gravity field from space. Dr. Bettadpur is a fellow of the International Association of Geodesy. He received a B.E. in mechanical engineering from Punjab University, India, an M.Tech. in aeronautical engineering from IIT-Kanpur, India, an M.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.
Geoffrey Blewitt is a professor with joint appointments in the Department of Physics and the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Blewitt’s research focuses on geodesy, global reference frames, and the application of very high precision Global Positioning System to earth science including geodynamics, plate tectonics, earthquake cycle, surface mass loading, glacial isostatic adjustment, sea-level change, and atmospheric science. His contributions in these areas earned him the Vening Meinesz Medal from the European Geosciences Union. He is also a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the International Association of Geodesy. Dr. Blewitt served on the National Academies Committee on National Requirements for Precise Geodetic Infrastructure. He received a B.Sc. in physics from Queen Mary’s College of the University of London and a Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of Technology.
John J. Braun is the project scientist for the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate Program at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Dr. Braun’s research interests are focused on using Global Navigation Satellite
System (GNSS) signals to remotely sense the atmosphere and land surface to support water cycle research. He holds a patent on a high-resolution ionospheric technique for regional area high-accuracy Global Positioning System applications. Dr. Braun is a member of the International GNSS Service Tropospheric Working Group. He received a B.A. in physics and mathematics and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, all from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Anny Cazenave (NAS) is a senior scientist at the Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiale at the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales in Toulouse, France. She is also the director for Earth Science at the International Space Science Institute in Bern, Switzerland. Dr. Cazenave’s research deals with the applications of space techniques to geosciences, including geodesy, gravity, and solid Earth geophysics; sea-level variations and study of climatic causes; global water cycle and land hydrology from space; and climate research. She has served on several National Academies committees, including the Committee on National Requirements for Precise Geodetic Infrastructure. Dr. Cazenave is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and a foreign member of the American, Indian, and Belgian academies of sciences. She earned a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Toulouse.
Nancy Glenn is a professor in the Department of Geosciences and the director of the Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory at Boise State University. She is an expert in imaging spectroscopy and lidar of terrestrial ecosystems and is particularly interested in the structure and function of dryland ecosystems and understanding how these ecosystems respond to changes in climate and disturbance. Dr. Glenn serves on several advisory committees related to remote sensing, including an advisory board member of the National Science Foundation’s OpenTopography, a chair and a committee member of UNAVCO’s Terrestrial Imaging Geodesy Working Group, and a member of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Remote Sensing of Invasive Plants group. She received a B.S. in geological engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno; an M.S. in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Ph.D. in geoengineering from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Kristine M. Larson is a professor emerita in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Larson’s research interests are focused on developing new applications for Global Positioning System instruments, including measuring seismic displacement, ice sheet speed, firn density, soil moisture, vegetation water content, snow depth, volcanic ash, and water levels. She served on both the 2017 Decadal Survey Panel on Earth Surface and Interior and the Committee on National Requirements for Precise Geodetic Infrastructure of the National Academies. Dr. Larson is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and a recipient of the Christiaan Huygens Medal from the European Geosciences Union. She earned a B.A. in engineering sciences from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in geophysics from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.
R. Steven Nerem is a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and the associate director of the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Nerem’s research interests include sea-level change, satellite altimetry, the Earth’s gravity field, planetary geodesy, precision orbit determination, and astrodynamics. He is a former member of the National Academies Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space and the UNAVCO study on grand challenges in geodesy. Dr. Nerem is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Astronautical Society’s Earth Science and Applications Award and the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU’s) Geodesy Section Award. He is a fellow of the AGU. Dr. Nerem earned a B.S. in geology from Colorado State University and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.
Michelle Sneed is a hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey. Her research focuses on land subsidence related to fluid-pressure changes in the western United States, using measurements of land-surface elevation and elevation change, including spirit leveling, Global
Positioning System, extensometry, and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar. Ms. Sneed is a member of the UNESCO Land Subsidence International Initiative and was a participant in a recent National Science Foundation–sponsored workshop on hydrological applications of geodetic techniques. She received a B.S. and an M.S. in geology from California State University, Sacramento, where she also periodically teaches geology classes.
Isabella Velicogna is a professor in the Department of Earth System Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. She is also a part-time scientist faculty at the California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dr. Velicogna uses novel geophysical methods and satellite remote sensing techniques to understand the physical processes governing ice sheet and high mountain mass balance and the hydrologic cycle of high latitude regions. She uses data from a variety of sensors, especially time-variable gravity and altimetry, but also passive microwave, Global Positioning System, and in situ data. Dr. Velicogna is a recipient of the European Geosciences Union’s Vening Meinesz Medal for distinguished research in geodesy and is a Kavli Fellow of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She earned a B.S. and an M.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in engineering (geodynamics) all from the University of Trieste, Italy.
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