and has published more than 350 papers in journals and refereed conferences. Newman was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, Seneca’s 100 Women, 35 World’s Most Influential Women Engineers, Lowell Thomas Award, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow, AIAA Jeffries Aerospace Medicine and Life Sciences Research Award, and Women in Aerospace Leadership Award. She holds honorary doctorates from Dartmouth, the Royal College of Art, and the University of Minho. Newman received her PhD in aerospace biomedical engineering and master’s degrees in aeronautics and astronautics and technology and policy from MIT and a BS in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Newman is a member of the Aerospace Corporation Board of Trustees and the SETI Institute Board of Directors and co-chairs the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Space Technologies.

DOMINIC (TONY) ANTONELLI is an independent aerospace leadership and management consultant at Antonelli Consulting Company, LLC, and serves on the advisory board of Karman Space and Defense. Antonelli was previously with Lockheed Martin Space, Commercial and Civil Space, as the Orion Artemis II mission director, the Advanced Programs director, and the chief technologist. Antonelli is a former NASA astronaut and pilot of two Space Shuttle missions to the International Space Station. Antonelli is a retired Navy Captain, naval aviator, and test pilot. Antonelli was awarded the Department of Defense’s Superior Service Medal and NASA’s Return to Flight Award and Spaceflight Medals. Antonelli received a master’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Washington.

PENELOPE J. BOSTON is a portfolio scientist for New Business and Employee Development (Code S, Science) at NASA Ames Research Center. Formerly, Boston served as the director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, and prior to that, Boston was a professor and the department chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and concurrently associate director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute. Personal research areas include geomicrobiology and astrobiology in extreme environments (caves and mines, hot and cold deserts, high latitudes and altitudes); geologic processes creating caves on other planets; human life-support issues in space/planetary environments especially microbiomes; and use of robotics and other technologies to assist exploration and science in extreme Earth and extraterrestrial environments. Boston holds the Lifetime Science Achievement Award from the National Speleological Society, the Caving Legend award from the Bureau of Land Management/Ft. Stanton Cave Project, and is a fellow of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts. Boston received a PhD in microbiology and atmospheric chemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder.

CHRISTOPHER E. CARR is an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering with a secondary appointment in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. At Georgia Tech, Carr runs the Planetary eXploration Lab, is part of the Space Systems Design Lab, and serves as the co-director of the Astrobiology Program; Carr also serves as a Scott M. Johnson Fellow in the U.S. Japan Leadership Program. Carr’s broad research areas include seeking and supporting life beyond Earth while enabling a sustainable human future and specific areas include space instrumentation, astrobiology, origin of life, microbial adaptation and evolution, space biology, single-molecule detection, machine learning, human performance in extreme environments, bioastronautics, and extravehicular activity. Carr is an engineer and scientist with prior training in aeronautics and astronautics, electrical engineering, medical physics, and molecular biology, including 15 years on the research staff at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Massachusetts General Hospital. Carr received a PhD in medical engineering and medical physics from MIT.

BARBARA A. COHEN is a planetary scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Cohen’s main scientific interests are in geochronology and geochemistry of planetary samples from the Moon, Mars, and asteroids. Cohen has been a principal or co-investigator on multiple NASA research and space flight projects, including the Lunar Flashlight CubeSat, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission, and multiple instruments manifested on upcoming lunar landers. Cohen has been a member of the science teams operating the Mars rovers Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance. Cohen serves as a subject-matter expert to human exploration

missions, including serving as the Artemis IV Project Scientist. Cohen participated in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites in four seasons, helping to recover more than 1,000 pristine samples for the U.S. collection. Asteroid 6816 Barbcohen is named in Cohen’s honor. Cohen was a member of the National Academies’ midterm assessment of the 2010 Planetary Science Decadal Survey and of the 2010 Planetary Science Decadal Survey’s Inner Planets Panel. Cohen received a PhD in planetary science from the University of Arizona.

JONATHAN H. JIANG is a Guest Scientist at the California Institute of Technology; a Project Scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles; and a former senior research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Jiang’s research interests include atmospheric dynamics, climate processes, planetary habitability, and strategies for the human exploration of Mars and beyond. Jiang also currently serves as the president of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Global Environmental Change section and was the editor-in-chief of the AGU Earth and Space Science Open Archive. Jiang was awarded the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals, and has been elected as a fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Jiang is also the founder and chief executive officer of Beacon in the Cosmos LLC, an initiative dedicated to inspiring the next generation of explorers and advancing global science education. Jiang received a PhD in atmospheric science from York University, Toronto, Canada. Dr. Jiang is the author of Avoiding the Great Filter: Illuminating Pathways to Humanity’s Future in the Cosmos, which explores the challenges and opportunities for humanity’s survival and progress in the universe.

JAMES F. KASTING (NAS) is a retired Evan Pugh Professor at Pennsylvania State University (PSU). Kasting’s research interests include atmospheric evolution, planetary atmospheres, and paleoclimates. Before joining PSU, Kasting spent 2 years at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and 7 years in the Space Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center. Kasting is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life, and the American Geophysical Union. Kasting is the recipient of the Stanley Miller Medal, also known as the National Academy of Sciences Award in Early Earth and Life Sciences. Kasting served on the National Academies’ Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences and on the Committee on Astrobiology Science Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe, and chaired the Searching for Life Across Space and Time: A Workshop. Kasting received a PhD in atmospheric science from the University of Michigan.

PASCAL LEE is a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute, director of the Mars Institute, professor of planetary sciences at Kepler Space University, director of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) at NASA Ames Research Center, and Chief Scientist for Ceres Robotics. Lee’s research focuses on the Moon and Mars, in particular the history of their water and ice, on Mars’s moons, Phobos and Deimos, and on the human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Lee has led more than 30 expeditions in the Arctic where he established the HMP Research Base, the world’s largest privately operated polar and planetary analog field research station. He also led the Northwest Passage Drive Expedition, a record-setting long-range vehicular traverse on sea ice along the fabled Northwest Passage. Lee also spent five summers and a winter-over in Antarctica leading field geology research, geophysics, and searching for meteorites. Lee is a recipient of the United States Antarctica Service Medal, the National Space Society’s Space Pioneer Award for Mars science and engineering, the Space Frontier Foundation’s Vision to Reality Award, several NASA Group Achievement Awards, and the Sagan Prize for the popularization of science. Lee is also an Federal Aviation Administration–helicopter pilot and flight instructor, and co-authored early NASA papers on robotic and human rotorcraft for Mars. Lee received an ME in geology and geophysics from the University of Paris-Sorbonne, and a PhD in astronomy and space sciences from Cornell University.

JAMES A. PAWELCZYK is an associate professor of physiology and kinesiology at Pennsylvania State University (PSU). Pawelczyk served as a payload specialist astronaut on STS-90 Neurolab. During the 16-day Spacelab flight, the seven-person crew served as both experiment subjects and operators for 26 individual life sciences experiments focusing on the effects of microgravity on the brain and nervous system. Pawelczyk’s primary research interests

include the neural control of circulation, particularly skeletal muscle blood flow, as it is affected by exercise or spaceflight. Pawelczyk founded and directs PSU’s unique dual-title PhD program in clinical and translational sciences and serves as a co-director of translational workforce development. Pawelczyk has won numerous awards, including the Young Investigator Award from the Life Sciences Project Division of the NASA Office of Life and Microgravity Science Applications; the NASA Space Flight Medal; and the Sherrington Prize Lectureship at Oxford University. Pawelczyk has served on NASA’s Human Exploration Operations Research Subcommittee and Biological and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee. Pawelczyk received a PhD in biology (physiology) from the University of North Texas. Pawelczyk is a former member of the National Academies’ Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space and the Committee on a Midterm Assessment of Implementation of the Decadal Survey on Life and Physical Sciences Research at NASA.

NILTON O. RENNO is a professor at the University of Michigan, a member of the College of Engineering Executive Committee, and the director of the master of engineering program in space engineering. Renno’s research interests include astrobiology, aerosols, instrument development, planetary science, thermodynamics, and systems engineering. Renno studies the physical processes that control the habitability of Earth and other planets, aerosols transport, and designs and fabricates instruments for these purposes. Renno has received numerous awards, including the Space Foundation John L. “Jack” Swigert Jr. Award for Space Exploration as a member of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Mission and the National Aeronautic Association Robert J. Collier Trophy as a member of NASA’s Phoenix Mars Mission and as a member of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Mission. Renno served on the National Research Council’s Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences and the Committee on Astrobiology Science Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe, and was a member of the organizing committee on Searching for Life Across Space and Time. Renno received a PhD in atmospheric science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

MICHAEL G. RYSCHKEWITSCH is a principal professional staff engineer in the Space Exploration Sector at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). Formerly, Ryschkewitsch served as the sector head for the exploration sector at APL, responsible for APL’s portfolio of space programs for NASA and for national security sponsors. Before joining APL, Ryschkewitsch served for more than 30 years at NASA, including as NASA chief engineer. Ryschkewitsch received a PhD in physics from Duke University. Ryschkewitsch served as the chair of the National Academies’ Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences Research in Space 2023–2032: Engineering and Science Interface Panel.

JULIANNA M. SCHEIMAN is the director of NASA Science Missions at Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). In this role, Scheiman is responsible for the mission development, contract award, and successful execution of NASA’s satellite launches, including NASA’s Jason-3; Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS); Sentinel-6; Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART); Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE); Psyche, Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE); Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT); Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP); Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) Power and Propulsion Element (PPE); Roman Space Telescope, and Europa Clipper missions. Scheiman is also a key team member on the Civil Space Advanced Development team, partnering with NASA on future mission capabilities and concepts. Prior to SpaceX, Scheiman was a management associate at Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, managing long-term research projects and key investment teams. Scheiman received a BA/BE in physics and mechanical engineering from Dartmouth College.

WANDA A. SIGUR (NAE) is an independent consultant. Sigur is retired from the position of vice president/general manager of civil space, space systems for Lockheed Martin Corporation. In this capacity, she had executive responsibility for national space programs relating to human spaceflight and space science missions, including planetary, solar, astrophysical, and Earth remote sensing for civil government agencies. These major programs included the Orion

Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle; Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes; Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R Series (GOES-R) weather satellites; the Juno; Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL); Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN); Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO); Mars Odyssey; and Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) planetary missions, and the company’s nuclear space power programs. Her responsibilities included research and science objectives and early development investments for the wide range of leapfrog technologies necessary to support anticipated space forward steps. Previously, Sigur was the vice president of engineering for space systems for Lockheed Martin Corporation. In this capacity, she was responsible for leading the corporation’s space systems engineering product technical validation for military space, strategic and defense missiles, commercial satellites and civil space, including personnel development, engineering process development and deployment, and engineering tools and training, with emphasis on ensuring operational excellence and first-time-right engineering. Sigur has been an active participant in many National Academies’ studies associated with future space technologies, particularly materials technologies, thermal protection systems, on-orbit materials processing, spacecraft design, on-orbit satellite servicing, energy systems, and human space exploration. Sigur received a BS in mechanical and materials science from Rice University and an MBA from Tulane University.

ERIKA B. WAGNER serves as the lead for U.S. business development at The Exploration Company, working to improve global access to space for science, technology, arts, education, and entrepreneurship. Wagner’s interdisciplinary background includes biomedical and aerospace engineering, with research spanning both human and mammalian adaptation to microgravity, partial gravity, and centrifugation. Wagner received a PhD in bioastronautics from the Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Wagner is an American Society for Gravitational and Space Research Fellow and a former member of the National Academies’ Space Studies Board, Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, and Science Opportunities Enabled by Gateway: A Workshop.

PANEL ON ASTROBIOLOGY

KATHLEEN E. MANDT (Chair) is the laboratory chief for the Planetary Systems Laboratory at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Mandt’s research includes the origin and evolution of volatiles throughout the solar system and the role of dynamics, chemistry, and atmospheric evolution in understanding this. Mandt previously served as the chief scientist for Exoplanets, the astrobiology section manager at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Research Laboratory, an adjunct professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Texas at San Antonio, and as a senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute. Mandt has served in several community and NASA mission leadership roles, including as the volatiles theme lead for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission; project scientist for the LRO Lyman Alpha Mapping Project instrument; project scientist for the Io Volcano Observer phase A study; deputy project scientist for the Heliophysics Division–funded Interstellar Probe pre-decadal mission study; and is currently a member of the Europa Clipper Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding team. Mandt served as a member of the steering committee of the Outer Planets Assessment Group and the Division for Planetary Science Professional Culture and Climate Subcommittee. Mandt earned a PhD in environmental science and engineering from The University of Texas at San Antonio. Mandt’s National Academies’ service includes the Astro2020: Panel on Exoplanets, Astrobiology, and the Solar System and the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023–2032: Panel on Giant Planet Systems.

LAURIE BARGE is a research scientist in the Planetary Science Section at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Barge’s research focuses on how life can emerge and be detected in planetary environments. Barge leads the JPL Origins and Habitability Laboratory, is the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) investigation scientist for NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, is a participating scientist for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, and is the program area scientist for Ocean Worlds in the JPL Planetary Science Directorate. Barge has received various awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal, the JPL Lew Allen Award, the JPL Polaris Award, and NASA’s Diversity,

Equity, and Inclusion Medal. Barge received a PhD in geological sciences from the University of Southern California and completed postdoctoral training as a NASA Astrobiology Program postdoctoral fellow.

HUGO CASTILLO is an assistant professor of microbiology and head of the Space Microbiology Lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Castillo’s background and expertise are in the areas of radiation biology and space environments simulation using microbial models and physiological, phenotypical, and genetic analyses to study responses to stress and homeostatic control. Castillo also studies the dynamics of nitrogen-cycling bacteria in plant growth systems based on lunar and martian regolith amended with manure, with the purpose of modeling the transformations of nitrogen for space agriculture experiments. Prior to joining Embry-Riddle, Castillo was a research associate professor at the New Mexico State University, a quality and microbiology laboratory manager at Alimentos y Nutricion (a food safety company in Mexico), and an assistant professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua. Castillo received a PhD in ecology from Pennsylvania State University.

JOHN M. EILER (NAS) is the Robert P. Sharp Professor of Geochemistry and the Ted and Linda Jenkins Leadership Chair at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech). Eiler’s research interests and work include serving as the director of CalTech’s Microanalysis Center and supervising a laboratory for stable isotope geochemistry that pursues research in petrology, meteorites, climate reconstruction, environmental science, and the physical and biochemistry of isotopes. Eiler is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, Geochemical Society, Mineralogical Society of America (MSA), and Packard Foundation. Eiler is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Eiler is the recipient of numerous awards, including the MSA award, the Macelwane medal, Epstein medal, and Day medal. Eiler received a PhD in geology from the University of Wisconsin. Previously, Eiler served on the National Academies’ Committee on Strategic Investments in Instrumentation and Facilities for Extraterrestrial Sample Curation and Analysis.

DREW GORMAN-LEWIS is an associate professor and former associate chair in Earth and space sciences at the University of Washington. Prior to joining the University of Washington, Gorman-Lewis was a postdoctoral scholar at the Argonne National Laboratory and a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Notre Dame. Gorman-Lewis’s research focuses on questions such as how microbial cell surfaces influence the environment and cellular processes, as well as the energy requirements of extremophiles for their metabolic activities. Gorman-Lewis employs a blend of interdisciplinary methods, including microbiology, low-temperature aqueous geochemistry, physical chemistry, and thermodynamic modeling to answer these questions. Gorman-Lewis received a PhD in geological sciences from the University of Notre Dame.

BETÜL KAÇAR is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Kaçar leads an astrobiology research group with emphasis on ancient life and ancient planet interactions. She is also the director of the NASA center dedicated to understanding the geologic and biological drivers of critical element evolution across geologic time. Kaçar’s research interests include the origins of life, early microbial life, and synthetic biology, uniquely contributing to advancing our search for life on other worlds within and beyond the solar system. Kaçar also leads the NASA astrobiology program’s research coordination network LIFE committed to developing in silico and in situ biological models for the advancement of life search and received multiple awards including the NASA Early Career Award, the Stanley Miller Award, the Keck Foundation Award, and the Rosalind Franklin Award. Her work was featured by numerous media outlets from BBC to NOVA Science, reaching millions of viewers worldwide. Kaçar received a PhD in chemistry from Emory University and completed postdoctoral training in molecular paleobiology at the NASA Astrobiology Institute and Harvard University.

MICHAEL A. MEYER recently retired from NASA as the lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration and Mars Sample Return Programs. Meyer’s primary research interest is in microorganisms living in extreme environments. Meyer served in various positions at NASA, including senior scientist for astrobiology (2001–2006), astrobiology/exobiology discipline scientist (1994–2006), and planetary protection officer (1994–1997). Meyer was also the program scientist for the Curiosity rover mission, the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission, the Mars Microprobe mission

(DS-2), and two Phase I Shuttle/Mir experiments. Prior to joining NASA, Meyer was an assistant research professor at the Desert Research Institute at the University of Nevada, associate director and associate in research for the Polar Desert Research Center at the Florida State University, and a visiting research scientist at the Culture Centre for Algae and Protozoa. Meyer earned a PhD in oceanography from Texas A&M University.

JORGE I. NÚÑEZ is the supervisor of the Moon to Mars Exploration Section in the Space Exploration Sector at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). Núñez’s primary research focuses on studying the geology and composition of planetary surfaces from the micro- to the macroscale using a variety of remote sensing and in situ techniques, including visible/near-infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Of particular interest is understanding the geologic history and composition of planetary surfaces and their potential for habitability, including Mars and ocean worlds. Núñez is the deputy principal investigator and lead engineer of the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager instrument on the New Horizons mission, and is a team member on the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission and Dragonfly mission. Núñez served as the APL technical area lead for dust mitigation of the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative and participated in human analog missions such as NASA’s Desert Research and Technology Studies. Núñez is a Fulbright Scholar, a NASA Early Career Fellow, and the recipient of multiple NASA Group Achievement Awards. Núñez earned a PhD in geological sciences from Arizona State University.

LAURA E. RODRIGUEZ is a staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Rodriguez is a Mars Science Laboratory–participating scientist and a member of the Mars Sample Return Campaign Science Group. Rodriguez is an organic geochemist interested in understanding how planetary environments drive the chemical evolution of organic matter to evaluate the potential for origins of life events on other worlds, and ultimately guide life detection efforts. To this end, Rodriguez performs laboratory studies of abiotic reactions and astromaterial characterization and develops machine learning strategies to help elucidate the organic content in samples analyzed by planetary spacecraft or returned samples. Rodriguez was an editor for the Astrobiology Primer 3.0 and a former lead for the Future Leaders of Ocean Worlds Group. Rodriguez was the recipient of a Ford Predoctoral Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Graduate Fellowship, a NASA Astrobiology Early Career Collaboration Award, and the NASA Planetary Science Early Career Award. Rodriguez earned a dual-title PhD in astrobiology and geosciences from Pennsylvania State University.

NICOLE SCHMITZ is a senior research scientist in the Department of Planetary Geology at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research. Schmitz studies the geology of planetary surfaces using data from imagers on planetary science missions and Earth analogs. Schmitz performs analog field studies focused on geology/astrobiology research, including the Arctic Mars Analogue Svalbard Expeditions (2008–2023) and the German North Antarctic Victoria Land Expedition (2015). Currently, Schmitz is the co-principal investigator of PanCam on ExoMars; a co-investigator and science payload uplink lead of Mastcam-Z on Mars2020; a co-investigator on Hayabusa-2, Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, and Martian Moons eXploration; and a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) PROSPECT science team. Schmitz chairs the Solar System and Exploration Panel of the European Space Sciences Committee and has served on a number of expert committees (iMARS Phase-2, iMOST, ISECG, and IMEWG Analogue Teams, ESA expert groups on Moon/Mars exploration). Schmitz received numerous group awards including the NASA Group Achievement Awards for the Mars 2020 Mastcam-Z Development Team, the Mars 2020 Mastcam-Z Science/Operations Team and the Mars 2020 Pre-landing Strategic Science Group, the International Astronautical Federation World Space Award as member of the Hayabusa-2 mission team, and an ESA recognition for contributions to the JUICE mission. Schmitz earned a DI in mechanical engineering and specialty aerospace engineering from the RWTH Aachen University of Technology.

AMY J. WILLIAMS is an associate professor of geology at the University of Florida (UF). Prior to joining UF, Williams was a faculty member of Towson University’s Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences. Williams’s research interests include the formation and preservation of biosignatures in terrestrial environments as an analog for putative biosignature formation on Mars. Williams works as a participating scientist on the NASA Perseverance rover science team and as a participating scientist on the NASA Curiosity rover science team, collaborating on the Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument team and studying Mars sedimentology and stratigraphy.

Williams has received multiple awards, including a nomination for the 2017 Maryland Academy of Sciences Outstanding Young Scientist Award, and was a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellow. At UF, Williams has won the Provost’s Excellence Award for Assistant Professors and the UF Research Promotion Initiative Award. Williams earned a PhD in geology from the University of California, Davis. Williams’s National Academies’ service includes the Planetary Sciences and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023–2032: Panel on Mars and the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science.

PANEL ON ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE AND SPACE PHYSICS

LESLIE K. TAMPPARI (Chair) is a principal scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)/California Institute of Technology. Tamppari is the project scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and a collaborator (former co-investigator) on the Perseverance rover’s Mars Environmental Dynamics Laboratory experiment. Tamppari was the project scientist for the Phoenix lander mission and was also the associate directorate scientist for the Planetary Science Directorate at JPL. Tamppari studies water vapor, ice, and dust in the martian atmosphere using orbital and landed data sets and has served on three previous NASA advisory committees. Tamppari was awarded two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals and numerous group achievement awards. Tamppari received a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles.

CHRISTOPHER BOXE is an associate professor, Department of Earth, Environment, and Equity, Howard University, and an assistant professor of environmental science and chemistry at Medgar Evers College, CUNY. Boxe uses numerical modeling platforms to assess the atmospheric evolution of planets on various timescales with an emphasis on the future human habitability on Mars. For Earth, Boxe focuses on air quality modeling and greenhouse gas/air quality data analytics with a special focus—using logistical multilevel modeling—on how these data sets quantitatively influence public health mortality and morbidity impacts. Boxe has worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Earth and Space Science Division (research scientist) and several science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-focused high schools within the borough of Brooklyn (AP/Regents Teacher). Boxe also implements STEM education initiatives to help increase representation in STEM careers. Boxe’s work converges at the nexus of sustainable and environmental research, education, and economic mobility. Boxe received a PhD in environmental science and engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

YAIRESKA COLLADO-VEGA is the Project Scientist for the Space Weather Next-L1 Series, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/NASA Space Weather Observations Office at NOAA National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS). Collado-Vega was the founder and, until February 2024, the director of the Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, which conducts real-time space weather assessments to support the development and validation of new capabilities for understanding space weather impacts on NASA robotic missions and human exploration activities. Collado-Vega’s research interest focuses on the solar wind interaction with Earth’s magnetic environment, solar energetic particle events and coronal mass ejections, X-ray imagers, and space weather effects on planetary environments. While at NASA, Collado-Vega worked and supported the initial collaborations of Mars missions with the Moon to Mars Office to understand space weather impacts on the Mars environment. Collado-Vega also works on the validation of magnetospheric models and the current developments on machine learning capabilities to improve space weather analysis and forecasting. She was also a co-investigator in several NASA internally funded proposals on a data mining tool development, has presented at many international and national scientific conferences, and was awarded several NASA Robert H. Goddard Awards on Mission and Enabling Support and Customer Service for her support of NASA missions. She conducts education and public outreach for NOAA NESDIS and also did it for many years for NASA and the Heliophysics Science Division, including social media events and live TV/radio interviews in English and Spanish. She was part of NASA for 19 years, working on real-time space weather analysis and mission support since 2012. Collado-Vega received a PhD in space physics from The Catholic University of America.

the NASA-funded Indiana Space Grant Consortium. Previously, Caldwell was a Jefferson Science Fellow at the Department of State, assigned to environment, science, technology, and health policy in the Office of Japanese Affairs. Caldwell is a fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. Recent National Academies’ service includes the Committee on Human-Systems Integration Research Topics for the 711th Human Performance Wing of the Air Force Research Laboratory. Caldwell earned a PhD in social psychology from the University of California, Davis.

ANNA-LISA PAUL (Co-Chair) is the director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research at the University of Florida and a research professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, program of plant molecular and cellular biology. Paul’s research is focused on plant gene expression in response to spaceflight and planetary analogs, with terrestrial research in planetary exploration including work in Antarctica and the Canadian Arctic, and with true lunar material (genomic responses of Arabidopsis to growth in lunar regolith from Apollo 11, 12, and 17). Paul has served the space research community as the president of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), as a member of the International Space Station Standing Review Board, on NASA’s GeneLab Science Council, and on the Suborbital Applications Research Group advisory board for the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Paul is a recipient of the NASA Medal of Honor for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and is a fellow of ASGSR and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Paul earned a PhD in plant molecular genetics from the University of Florida. National Academies’ service includes the Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

DANIEL AMMON (NAE) is the vice president of research and development at Regenity Biosciences. In this role, Ammon leads a team in the area of regenerative medicine. Previously, Ammon was the director of surface science at Bausch + Lomb, leading a team of scientists that surfaced modified polymers and performed analyses on the modified surfaces. The techniques used included several types of mass spectrometry and surface analytical instrumentation. Ammon is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Ammon earned a PhD in analytical chemistry from the University at Buffalo.

SERENA MARIA AUÑON-CHANCELLOR is a clinical professor at the Texas A&M University College of Medicine. Auñon-Chancellor is also the Aerospace Medicine Residency program director at the University of Texas Medical Branch and serves as a management astronaut in the NASA Astronaut Office. Auñon-Chancellor also serves on NASA’s Bioethics and Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health advisory committees and does private consulting for aerospace companies. Previously, Auñon-Chancellor was part of the 20th NASA astronaut class and served on the International Space Station as part of both Expeditions 56 and 57. Auñon-Chancellor’s research interests include thrombosis in microgravity, space radiation and its clinical effects on humans, and the major medical challenges facing astronauts during exploration class missions. Auñon-Chancellor has received the U.S. Air Force Flight Surgeons Julian Ward Award for excellence in aerospace medicine. Auñon-Chancellor earned an MD from the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center. Auñon-Chancellor’s National Academies’ service includes the Committee on Aerospace Medicine and Medicine of Extreme Environments.

JAY C. BUCKEY is a professor of medicine at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and an adjunct professor of engineering at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. Buckey directs the Space Medicine Innovations Laboratory at Dartmouth, which performs research for NASA, the Department of Defense, and the National Institutes of Health. Buckey’s research and clinical interests include space physiology, hyperbaric medicine, and the use of the brain’s ability to process sound as an overall marker of brain function in conditions such as HIV and Alzheimer’s disease. Buckey started and runs the hyperbaric medicine clinical program at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, which also performs research on new uses for hyperbaric oxygen. Buckey flew in space as a payload specialist astronaut on the STS-90 Neurolab mission. Buckey authored Space Physiology, a practical handbook designed to help physicians and astronauts maintain crew members’ health in space. Buckey also served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. Buckey’s honors include the Laurence R. Young Bioastronautics Investigator Award, the Joseph Kerwin Award for Achievements in Space Medicine, the

Jeffrey P. Sutton Scientific Achievement Award, and the Luigi Napolitano book award for Space Physiology. Buckey earned an MD from Cornell University Medical College. Buckey’s National Academies’ service includes the Committee on Space Biology and Medicine and the Task Group on Research on the International Space Station.

ANA DIAZ ARTILES is an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University (TAMU). Diaz Artiles also holds courtesy appointments in the Department of Kinesiology and Sport Management and the Department of Medical Physiology. Diaz Artiles previously worked for 5 years in Kourou, French Guiana, as a member of the Ariane 5 launch team. At TAMU, Diaz Artiles directs the Bioastronautics and Human Performance laboratory with a research program that focuses on investigating human health and performance in aerospace environments and on developing technologies to mitigate the body’s adaptation to extreme stressors, with the primary motivation to advance human space exploration. Specific areas of interest include human spaceflight, human physiology and behavior in altered-gravity environments, extravehicular activity, and human–systems interaction. Diaz Artiles’s honors include the Fulbright Fellowship, the Amelia Earhart Fellowship from Zonta International, and the Thora Halstead Early Career Award from the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research. Diaz Artiles earned a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

NICK KANAS is professor emeritus in psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and was associate chief of mental health at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Kanas was a National Space Biomedical Research Institute– and NASA-funded principal investigator doing psychosocial research with 30 astronauts and cosmonauts on the Mir and International Space Station and studying crew autonomy during several space simulation missions (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, Haughton-Mars, Mars 500 pilot). Kanas is a former trustee of the International Academy of Astronautics. Kanas has written three books related to psychosocial issues in space, the most recent being Behavioral Health and Human Interactions in Space, which won the International Academy of Astronautics Life Science Book Award. Kanas’s honors include the Royer Award for Academic Psychiatry, the Aerospace Medical Association Longacre Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in the Psychological and Psychiatric Aspects of Aerospace Medicine, and the International Academy of Astronautics Life Science Award. Kanas earned an MD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Kanas’s National Academies’ service includes the Human Behavior and Mental Health Panel for the 2011 Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

CRAIG E. KUNDROT retired as the first director of NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) Division. Previously, Kundrot served as the director of BPS’s predecessor organization, Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications Division. Kundrot’s earlier positions include Life Science Research capability leader (including Astrobiology and Planetary Protection); deputy program scientist for NASA’s Human Research Program; chair of NASA’s Institutional Review Board for human subjects research (including astronauts) and its international counterpart, the Human Research Multilateral Review Board; branch chief for microgravity program’s material science and biotechnology programs; and senior research scientist. Kundrot’s honors include several Center Director Commendations and NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal. Kundrot’s research area was understanding the structure and function of proteins and RNA using X-ray crystallography and computational methods. Kundrot earned a PhD in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University.

BRUCE M. LINK is the chief science officer with Amentum for the Fully Integrated Lifecycle Mission Support Services contract at NASA Ames Research Center. Previously, Link was based at the Kennedy Space Center working to shape and align science objectives with NASA’s exploration strategy. Link’s work has spanned a broad range of problems, including regolith, waste recycling, water purification, novel food systems, and plant growth systems. Link has contributed to the Science Objectives for Human Exploration of Mars Workshop Report, which was cosponsored by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, as well as Thriving in Space: Ensuring the Future of Biological and Physical Sciences Research: A Decadal Survey for 2023–2032 for the National Academies. Link has extensive knowledge in instrumentation, genetics, biotechnologies, computational science, and innovation. Link serves on an advisory board for the Biological Engineering Program at North Carolina A&T State University. Link earned a PhD in biology from The Pennsylvania State University.

Professeur Invité at the Instut de Physique du Globe de Paris. Banerdt has worked on numerous planetary exploration missions, including Magellan, Mars Global Surveyor, and the Mars Exploration Rovers (for which Banerdt served as the project scientist for 6 years). Banerdt was the principal investigator of the InSight Mission until its end in 2022. Banerdt is the recipient of 15 NASA Group Achievement Awards, the NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal in 2019, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science Newcomb Cleveland Prize in 2022. Banerdt received a PhD in geological sciences from the University of Southern California.

ALI BRAMSON is an assistant professor at Purdue University in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Bramson’s research expertise is on the processes that affect the surfaces of planets in our solar system, including those related to ice and volatiles. Bramson’s work is helping shape the future of in situ resource utilization and human exploration of Mars, as well as planning future robotic spacecraft missions for planetary science. Bramson is a member of the American Geophysical Union and the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, and has won numerous awards, including the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the Lunar and Planetary Institute Career Development Award. Bramson received a PhD in planetary sciences with a minor in geosciences from the University of Arizona.

VERONICA BRAY-DURFEY is an associate research professor and science operations engineer for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE instrument at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona. Bray is a geologically trained planetary scientist whose research focuses on impact crater formation across the solar system, utilizing a combination of spacecraft observations, terrestrial field studies, and computer modeling. Since 2013 Bray has also been a targeting specialist for the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), using the spacecraft to return new images of Mars. As a team member of Cassini, MRO, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and New Horizons, Bray has become familiar with the surface and subsurface properties of various planetary bodies and received multiple science and operation awards from NASA. Since 2016, Bray has been combining science and mission operations experience to develop mission concept of operations and terrestrial analog testing plans for seismometer development. Bray’s work has included a variety of human and robotic lander targets, including the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and the icy satellites. Bray received a PhD in planetary science from the Imperial College, London.

ALEX HALLIDAY (NAS) is a professor at Columbia University and a geochemist who was previously the director of the Earth Institute and the founding dean of the new Columbia Climate School (until 2023). Prior to that, Halliday was the dean of science and engineering and then the vice president of the Royal Society while at Oxford University. Halliday is best known for the development of multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and its application to the timing and processes of accretion, core formation, and volatile loss in the terrestrial planets. He is the former president of the Geochemical Society, the European Association of Geochemistry, and the Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology Section of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). He is a fellow of the Royal Society, an international member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the recipient of the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society, the Urey Medal of the European Association of Geochemistry, the Oxburgh Medal of the Institute of Measurement and Control, the Bowen Award and Harry H. Hess Medal of AGU, and a Knighthood for services to science and innovation. Halliday received a PhD in geophysics from Newcastle University.

JEFFREY ROY JOHNSON is a principal professional staff member at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Johnson was the director at the U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. Johnson is a planetary scientist who uses spacecraft and laboratory spectroscopic data to understand the composition and light-scattering properties of planetary surfaces. Johnson was a participating scientist on the Mars Polar Lander and Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions, served as an associate principal investigator on MER, and is currently a participating scientist on Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity, a co-investigator on the SuperCam and Mastcam-Z instruments on Mars2020 Perseverance, and co-investigator on the Dragonfly mission. Johnson served as the chair of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group from 2016 to 2019 and as

a member of the Planetary Science Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council (2008–2012, 2016). Johnson received NASA Group Achievement Awards for the Mars Pathfinder, MER, MSL, and Mars2020 missions. Johnson received a PhD in geosciences from the University of Arizona.

JOHN F. MUSTARD is a professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences and the co-director of the Earth 4D program of the Planetary Sciences at Brown University and the co-director of the Earth 4D program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). Mustard explores Earth and the planets to understand how they operate and evolve using advanced satellite technologies and is particularly interested in the prospects for life off the Earth. The CIFAR Earth 4D program studies Earth’s rich subsurface biosphere to consider the prospects for underground habitability for planets. Mustard is the lead of the International Space Science Institute working group Extant Subsurface Life on Mars? Science, Tools and Missions Together. Mustard has also been involved in the exploration of the Moon and Mars since 1989 on NASA, European, and Indian spacecraft, including as the deputy principal investigator of the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and co-investigator on the OMEGA experiment on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express and NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument that flew on India’s Chandrayaan Spacecraft. Mustard chaired the Mars 2020 Science Definition Team in 2014 and was the chair of the Mars Exploration Payload Assessment Group 2007–2010. Mustard is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Geophysical Union, and was awarded the NASA Medal for Exceptional Public Service. Mustard has authored more than 200 refereed articles and received a PhD in geological sciences from Brown University.

CHIANG SHIH is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering (COE), which is affiliated jointly with Florida State University and Florida A&M University, and the director of the Aero-propulsion, Mechatronics, and Energy (AME) Center. Shih previously served as the chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU COE. Shih was responsible for the coordination, design, and establishment of the AME Center, a multidisciplinary research center, while serving as the director since the center’s inauguration in 2012. Shih’s research interests are in the areas of unsteady aerodynamics, separated flow control, aero-acoustics, high-speed flow control, and optical diagnostic techniques. In recent years, Shih has focused on the broadening participation of engineers through professional training and workforce development activities. Shih has led several integrated research and education programs supported by NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense. Shih plays a critical role in the ongoing development of the aerospace engineering graduate degree program for COE. Shih is an American Society of Mechanical Engineers fellow and an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics associate fellow. Shih received a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California.

KIRSTEN LEIGH SIEBACH is an assistant professor at Rice University. Siebach’s work focuses on understanding sedimentary processes on Mars and early Earth through analysis of sedimentary rock textures, chemistry, and mineralogy. Siebach is also actively engaged in promoting education and outreach related to Earth and planetary sciences. Siebach is a participating scientist on the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission, a member of the Science and Operations Team for the Mars Science Laboratory, and previously worked on the operations teams for the Phoenix Lander and Mars Exploration Rovers. Siebach received several NASA Group Achievement Awards for work on the Mars Science Laboratory, Mars Exploration Rovers, and Phoenix missions and the Harrison Schmitt Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geosciences. Prior to joining Rice University, Siebach was a postdoctoral research associate at Stony Brook University studying the geochemistry of martian sediments and received a PhD in geology from the California Institute of Technology.

MARCELLA AVELINE YANT is a planetary research scientist at Lockheed Martin, supporting Deep Space Exploration and the Advanced Technology Center. Yant bridges the gap between science and engineering by integrating technology with mission objectives. Yant is an early-career scientist with a background in multiple disciplines including geology, biology, chemistry, and mission formulation. Yant’s expertise is in geologic and surface properties

on Mars, focusing on near/infrared spectroscopy (experimental work, remote sensing, and field analogs) and the integration of handheld instruments for field geology and human exploration. Yant was previously a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University working with the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) team, Project Earth Science Problems for Evaluation of Strategies, Solvers and Optimizers (ESPRESSO), and received a PhD in geosciences from Stony Brook University.

STAFF

ABIGAIL SHEFFER, Study Co-Director, is a senior program officer with the Space Studies Board (SSB). Sheffer has been the staff officer and study director on a variety of activities such as the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics), the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics (Astro2020), the Committee on Solar and Space Physics, Open Source Software Policy Options for NASA Earth and Space Sciences, Strategic Investments in Instrumentation and Facilities for Extraterrestrial Sample Curation and Analysis, and Achieving Science with CubeSats: Thinking Inside the Box, among others. In 2009, Sheffer came to the National Academies as a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow with the SSB. Sheffer earned her PhD in planetary science from the University of Arizona.

KELSIE M. KRAFTON, Study Co-Director, joined the Space Studies Board in 2023 and is a program officer. Krafton manages the Committee on Planetary Protection. Prior to the National Academies, Krafton was an American Association for the Advancement of Science Science and Technology Policy Fellow placed in the Nuclear Physics Office at the Department of Energy and the John Bahcall Public Policy Fellow at the American Astronomical Society. Krafton received her PhD in physics from Louisiana State University in 2019 with a focus on astrophysics. Krafton’s research concerned dust production by core-collapse supernovae.

LINDA M. WALKER, a senior program assistant, has been with the National Academies since 2007. Before her assignment with the Space Studies Board, she was on assignment with the National Academies Press. Prior to working at the National Academies, she was with the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy in Falls Church, Virginia. Walker has 28 years of administrative experience.

COLLEEN N. HARTMAN joined the National Academies in 2018 as the director for both the Space Studies Board (SSB) and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB). After beginning her government career as a presidential management intern under Ronald Reagan, Hartman worked on Capitol Hill for House Science and Technology Committee Chair Don Fuqua, as a senior engineer building spacecraft at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), and as a senior policy analyst at the White House. She has served as the Planetary Division director, deputy associate administrator, and acting associate administrator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate; as the deputy assistant administrator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and as the deputy center director and director of science and exploration at NASA GSFC. Hartman has built and launched scientific balloon payloads, overseen the development of hardware for a variety of Earth observing spacecraft, and served as the NASA program manager for dozens of missions, the most successful of which was the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). Data from the COBE spacecraft gained two NASA-sponsored scientists the Nobel Prize in physics in 2006. Hartman also played a pivotal role in developing innovative approaches to powering space probes destined for the solar system’s farthest reaches. While at NASA Headquarters, she spearheaded the selection process for the New Horizons probe to Pluto. She helped gain administration and congressional approval for an entirely new class of funded missions that are competitively selected, called “New Frontiers,” to explore the planets, asteroids, and comets in the solar system. She has several master’s degrees and a PhD in physics. Hartman has received numerous awards, including two prestigious Presidential Rank Awards.

ARUL MOZHI is the senior program director for Aeronautics, Space, and Astronomy at the National Academies. Since 1999, Mozhi has been directing projects in the areas of defense and broader science and technology carried out by numerous committees of the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, the Space Studies Board,

the Laboratory Assessments Board, the Army Research Laboratory Technical Assessment Board, the Naval Studies Board, and the National Materials and Manufacturing Board. Prior to joining the National Academies, Mozhi held technical and management positions in systems engineering and applied materials research and development (R&D) at several small and midsize high-tech R&D and consulting companies in the Washington, DC, and Boston areas—Utron Inc., Roy F. Weston, and Marko Materials. He received his MS and PhD (the latter in 1986) in materials engineering from The Ohio State University and then served as a postdoctoral research associate there for 2 years. He received his BTech in metallurgical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in 1982.

MIA BROWN joined the Space Studies Board (SSB) as a research associate in 2016. Brown came to the SSB with experience in both the civil and military space sectors and has primarily focused on policies surrounding U.S. space programs in the international sector. Some of these organizations include NASA’s Office of International and Interagency Relations, Arianespace, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (Austria), and the Department of State. From 2014 to 2015, Brown was the managing editor of the International Affairs Review. She received her MA in international space policy from the Space Policy Institute at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Prior to entering the Space Policy Institute, Brown received her MA in historical studies from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she concentrated in the history of science, technology, and medicine and defended a thesis on the development of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

ARTHUR CHARO has been a senior program officer with the National Academies’ Space Studies Board (SSB) since 1995. He has directed studies resulting in some 41 reports, notably the inaugural “decadal surveys” in solar and space physics (2002) and Earth science and applications from space (2007). He also served as the study director for the second Earth science decadal (2018) and the second (2012) and third (2024) decadal surveys in solar and space physics. Charo received his PhD in experimental atomic and molecular physics in 1981 from Duke University 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 as a fellow from 1985 to 1988 at Harvard University’s Center for Science and International Affairs. From 1988 to 1995, he worked as a senior analyst and study director in the International Security and Space Program at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. In addition to contributing to The Next Decade of Discovery in Solar and Space Physics: Exploring and Safeguarding Humanity’s Home in Space, he is the author of research papers in the field of 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). Charo is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in International Security (1985–1987) and a Harvard-Sloan Foundation Fellowship (1987–1988). He was a 1988–1989 American Association for the Advancement of Science Congressional Science Fellow, sponsored by the American Institute of Physics.

DWAYNE A. DAY is a senior program officer and a study director at the National Academies. He has served as the study director for the planetary sciences decadal survey midterm assessments, as well as assisted on previous planetary science and astronomy and astrophysics decadal surveys. Day has also served as the study director for studies on NASA’s near Earth objects efforts, advanced aerial mobility, and the size of the NASA astronaut corps. Prior to coming to the National Academies, he was an investigator on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board and the historian for the Congressional Budget Office, and worked for the U.S. Air Force and The George Washington University Space Policy Institute. Day is a frequent author on civil, military, and intelligence space history and policy and a former Guggenheim Fellow and Verville Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.

TARINI KONCHADY is an associate program officer on the National Academies’ Space Studies Board (SSB). Before joining the SSB, she was a graduate teaching and research assistant at Texas A&M University. Her research focused on expanding the utility of variable stars in the extragalactic distance scale to enable more precise measurements of the Hubble constant. Konchady also has extensive experience in science communication and outreach,

notably as a media fellow for the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and as a member of the Astrobites collaboration. Her policy experience began with an AAS Congressional Visits Day and continued through the Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internship at the SSB and a graduate certificate in public management from the Bush School of Government and Public Service. Konchady earned a PhD and an MS in astronomy from Texas A&M University and a BS in physics from Johns Hopkins University.

SAM MYSZKOWSKI has served since June 2024 as Senior Program Assistant for the Space Studies Board, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, and Board on Physics and Astronomy. Prior to joining the National Academies, he worked in housing and environmental justice advocacy for Sunrise Movement DC and in legislative analysis for InstaTrac. He has a BS in economics from Northeastern University in Boston.

GAYBRIELLE HOLBERT joined the Space Studies Board and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board as a program assistant in 2019. In this role, she assists with ongoing projects and workshops by providing logistics, report creation, and project support, including the Standing Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space. She previously worked as a communication specialist for the United Black Fund Inc., a nonprofit organization that helped inner-city youth by providing after-school programs, scholarships, and resources to engage and enhance their educational needs. Prior to that, she was the social media consultant for the Development Corporation of Columbia Heights, a nonprofit advocacy platform that supports responsible, community-focused economic development and as a production assistant for a startup multimedia production company. She holds a BA in mass media communications from the University of the District of Columbia.

DIONNA WISE is a program coordinator with the Space Studies Board, having previously worked for the National Academies’ Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Recently, she was the lead study coordinator for the Astro2020 decadal survey. Wise has a long career in office administration, having worked as a supervisor in several capacities and fields. She attended the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and majored in psychology.