Board Members and Staff

The Board is composed of prominent scientists, engineers, industrialists, scholars, and policy experts in space research. The chairs of the SSB's standing committees also serve as members of the Board

A complete list of former Board chairs and vice chair can be found here.

Staff

Current Members:

• Charles F. Kennel, chair, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, science and technology policy
• A. Thomas Young, vice chair, Lockheed Martin Corporation (ret.), space systems and engineering
• Daniel N. Baker, University of Colorado, solar and space physics (chair, Committee on Solar and Space Physics)
• Steven J. Battel, Battel Engineering, space systems and engineering
• Charles L. Bennett, Johns Hopkins University, astronomy and astrophysics (co-chair, Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics)
• Yvonne C. Brill, Aerospace Consultant, space systems and engineering
• Elizabeth R. Cantwell, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, microgravity life and physical sciences
• Andrew B. Christensen, Dixie State College/Aerospace Corporation, solar and space physics
• Alan Dressler, The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution, astronomy and astrophysics
• Jack D. Fellows, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, science and technology policy
• Fiona A. Harrison, California Institute of Technology, astronomy and astrophysics
• Joan Johnson-Freese, Naval War College, science and technology policy
• Klaus Keil, University of Hawaii, planetary exploration and astrobiology
• Molly K. Macauley, Resources for the Future, science and technology policy
• Berrien Moore III, Climate Central, Earth science and applications (chair, Committee on Earth Studies)
• Robert T. Pappalardo, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, planetary exploration and astrobiology (co-chair, Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life)
• James Pawelczyk, Pennsylvania State University, microgravity life and physical sciences
• Soroosh Sorooshian, University of California, Irvine, Earth science and applications
• Joan Vernikos, Thirdage LLC, microgravity life and physical sciences
• Joseph F. Veverka, Cornell University, planetary exploration and astrobiology (chair, Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration)
• Warren M. Washington, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Earth science and applications
• Charles E. Woodward, University of Minnesota, astronomy and astrophysics
• Ellen G. Zweibel, University of Wisconsin, solar and space physics

Executive Committee

Ex-Officios

Edward C. Stone California Institute of Technology (U.S. Representative to COSPAR)

Raymond S. Colladay Lockheed Martin Astronautics (ret.) (Chair, ASEB)

Jean Pierre Swings Université de Liège (Chair, ESSC)

Executive Committee

The Space Studies Board's Executive Committee (XCOM) is a subset of the full Board, and acts on the Board's behalf between its regular meetings. The XCOM assists the chair with strategic planning, consults on Board and committee membership, and develops agendas for Board meetings. The XCOM usually meets, separate from the full Board, in late summer.

Members are:
Charles F. Kennel, Chair
A. Thomas Young, Vice chair

Daniel N. Baker
Charles Bennett
Molly K. Macauley
Berrien Moore III
Robert Pappalardo
Joan Vernikos
Joseph Veverka

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Staff:

Richard E. Rowberg, Interim Director

Brant Sponberg, Senior Program Officer and Associate Director

Joseph K. Alexander, Senior Program Officer

Carmela J. Chamberlain, Administrative Coordinator

Arthur A. Charo, Senior Program Officer

Dwayne A. Day, Program Officer

Brian D. Dewhurst, Program Officer*

Theresa M. Fisher, Program Associate

Sandra J. Graham, Senior Program Officer

Catherine A. Gruber, Editor, SSB

Rodney N. Howard, Senior Project Assistant

Celeste A. Naylor, Information Management Associate

Tanja E. Pilzak, Manager, Program Operations

Ian W. Pryke, Senior Program Officer

Robert L. Riemer, Senior Program Officer*

Christina O. Shipman, Financial Officer

David H. Smith, Senior Program Officer

Victoria Swisher, Research Associate

Linda Walker, Senior Project Assistant

Sandra Wilson, Financial Assistant

* Staff of another NRC Board who are shared with the SSB

Former Space Studies Board Chairs

2003-2008		Lennard A. Fisk, University of Michigan
2000–2003		John H. McElroy, (deceased) University of Texas at Arlington
1994–2000		Claude R. Canizares, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1988–1994		Louis J. Lanzerotti, New Jersey Institute of Technology
1982–1988		Thomas M. Donahue, (deceased) University of Michigan
1976–1982		A.G.W. Cameron, (deceased) Harvard College Observatory
1973–1976		Richard M. Goody, Harvard University
1970–1973		Charles H. Townes, University of California at Berkeley
1962–1969		Harry H. Hess, (deceased) Princeton University
1958–1962		Lloyd V. Berkner, (deceased) Graduate Research Center, Dallas, Texas

Former Space Studies Board Vice Chairs

2000–2006

George A. Paulikas, The Aerospace Corporation (retired)

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SSB Members

CHARLES F. KENNEL (NAS) is a distinguished professor of atmospheric science and director emeritus in the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Dr. Kennel was the founding director of the UCSD Environment and Sustainability Initiative, an all-campus effort embracing teaching, research, campus operations, and public outreach, and is now chairman of its international advisory board. His research covers plasma physics, space plasma physics, solar-terrestrial physics, plasma astrophysics, and environmental science and policy. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics. He was a member of the NASA Advisory Council from 1998 to 2006, its chair from 2001-2005, and is presently chair of the California Council on Science and Technology. He has had visiting appointments to the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Trieste), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (Boulder), the Ecole Polytechnique (Paris), California Institute of Technology (Pasadena), Space Research Institute (Moscow), and the University of Cambridge (U.K.). He is a recipient of the James Clerk Maxwell Prize (American Physical Society), the Hannes Alfven Prize (European Geophysical Society), the Aurelio Peccei Prize (Accademia Lincei), and the NASA Distinguished Service and Distinguished Public Service Medals. He was the 2007 C.P. Snow Lecturer at Christ's College, Cambridge (U.K.). Dr. Kennel has served on numerous other NRC committees and boards including the Committee on NASA's Beyond Einstein Program: An Architecture for Implementation (co-chair), the Committee on Global Change Research (chair), the Committee on Fusion Science Assessment (chair), the Board on Physics and Astronomy (chair), the Panel to Review the National Space Science Data Center/World Data Center-A for Rockets and Satellites, the Committee on Cooperation with the USSR in Solar Activity, Solar Wind, Terrestrial Effects, and Solar Acceleration (co-chair), the Plasma Science Committee (chair), and the Air Force Physics Research Committee.

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A. THOMAS YOUNG (NAE), vice-chair, is retired executive vice president of Lockheed Martin. Mr. Young previously was president and COO of Martin Marietta Corp. Prior to joining industry, Mr. Young worked for 21 years at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. At NASA, he directed the Goddard Space Flight Center, was deputy director of the Ames Research Center, and directed the Planetary Program in the Office of Space Science at NASA headquarters. Mr. Young received high acclaim for his technical leadership in organizing and directing national space and defense programs, especially the Viking program. He is a former member of the NRC Office of Science and Engineering Personnel Advisory Committee, the Committee on Supply Chain Integration: New Roles and Challenges for Small and Medium-Sized Companies, served as chair of the Committee for Technological Literacy. He was a member of the NASA Advisory Council. Mr. Young also served as a member of the NRC Committee on a New Science Strategy for Solar System Exploration.

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DANIEL N. BAKER is director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and is a professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado. His primary research interest is the study of plasma physics and energetic particle phenomena in planetary magnetospheres and in the Earth’s vicinity. He conducts research in space instrument design, space physics data analysis, and magnetospheric modeling. Dr. Baker has published over 700 papers in the refereed literature and has edited six books on topics in space physics. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the International Academy of Astronautics, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He currently is an investigator on several NASA space missions including the MESSENGER mission to Mercury, the Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission, the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission, and the Canadian ORBITALS mission. He has won numerous awards for his research efforts and for his management activities including recognition by the Institute for Scientific Information as being “Highly Cited” in space. Dr. Baker was chosen as a 2007 winner of the University of Colorado’s Robert L. Stearns Award for outstanding research, service, and teaching. Dr. Baker presently serves on several national and international scientific committees and he presently serves on advisory panels of the U.S. Air Force and the National Science Foundation. He is a former member of numerous NRC committees and panels including the Committee on Solar and Space Physics: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future, and its Panel on Atmosphere-Ionosphere-Magnetosphere. He also served on the 2006 Decadal Review of the U.S. National Space Weather Program.

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STEVEN J. BATTEL is president of Battel Engineering, which provides engineering, development, and review services to NASA, DOD, and university and industrial clients. His areas of specialization include program management, systems engineering, advanced technology development, spacecraft avionics, power systems, high voltage systems, precision electronics, and scientific instrument design. Mr. Battel was a member of the Hubble Space Telescope External Readiness Review Team for SM-2, SM3A and SM3B, the AXAF/Chandra Independent Assessment Team, the TDRS-H/I/J Independent Review Team, the Mars Polar Lander Failure Review Board and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Genesis Failure Review Board. Prior to becoming president of Battel Engineering, he worked as an engineer, researcher, and manager at the University of Michigan, the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory, The University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Mr. Battel served on the NRC Committee on NASA Astrophysics Performance Assessment and the Committee on Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope. He currently serves on the Committee on Earth Studies.

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CHARLES L. BENNETT (NAS) is a professor of physics and astronomy on the Homewood campus of the Johns Hopkins University. Prior to that he was on the staff at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center where he held positions as a research scientist, branch head, and senior fellow. Dr. Bennett is the principal investigator for the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) mission that quantifies the age, content, history, and other key properties of the universe with unprecedented accuracy and precision. Prior to his work on WMAP, Dr. Bennett was the deputy principal investigator of the Differential Microwave Radiometers instrument and a member of the Science Team of the Cosmic Background Explorer mission. The scientific results from this work included the first detection of variations across the sky of the temperature of the afterglow radiation from the Big Bang—the cosmic microwave background radiation. Dr. Bennett is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the American Physical Society. He is the co-chair of the NRC Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics.

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YVONNE C. BRILL (NAE) is an independent consultant whose primary focus is aerospace technology and policy issues. Her specific research interests include rocket motors (both liquid and solid propellant) launch vehicles for space application, and spacecraft (on-board) propulsion systems. She began her career with Douglas Aircraft as a rocket-propellant chemist on a project to design and launch an unmanned, Earth-orbiting satellite. Later at RCA Astro-Electronics, she developed the concept for a new rocket engine—an electrothermal hydrazine thruster. Ms. Brill is an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a fellow of the Society of Women Engineers. She served on numerous NRC and NAE committees, including the Committee on Air Force/Department of Defense Aerospace Propulsion, the Committee on Strategic Assessment of Earth-to-Orbit Propulsion Options, and the Committee to Study the Advanced Solid Rocket Quality and Test Program.

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ELIZABETH R. CANTWELL is the director for national security initiatives at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Prior to joining Oak Ridge, she was the deputy division leader for science and technology in the International, Space and Response Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Cantwell has served as the section leader for the Micro and Nanotechnology Center at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She began her career building life support systems for human spaceflight missions with the NASA. Her NRC experience includes past membership on the Committee on NASA's Bioastronautics Critical Path Roadmap, the Space Station Panel of the Review of NASA Strategic Roadmaps, the Committee on Technology for Human/Robotic Exploration and Development of Space, and the Committee on Advanced Technology for Human Support in Space.

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ANDREW B. CHRISTENSEN is on the staff of Dixie State College and he is a part-time employee of the Aerospace Corporation. He previously held the position of chief scientist in the Civil Space Division at Northrop-Grumman Space Technology. He retired from Aerospace in 2003 and completed a two-year assignment with NOAA/NESDIS as their representative to the European Meteorological Satellite Organization in Darmstadt Germany. As an employee of Aerospace, Dr. Christensen served as the director of the Space Science and Applications Laboratory in El Segundo, California. He is currently the principal investigator for the Global Ultraviolet Imager on the NASA TIMED satellite mission launched in 2001. Dr. Christensen’s research interests include the physics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. He has served on numerous evaluation panels for both NASA and NSF and currently serves as the chair of the Mission Planning Working Group that is preparing a Science Roadmap for the Heliophysics Division at NASA. He has served as a member of the NASA Advisory Council and as chair of the Space Science Advisory Committee. He participated in the NASA Office of Space Science Strategic Planning Workshops and the Sun-Earth Connection Roadmap committees.

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ALAN DRESSLER (NAS) is an observational astronomer at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution. His principal areas of research cover the formation and evolution of galaxies and the study of star populations of distant galaxies. Dr. Dressler has made significant contributions in understanding galaxy formation and evolution, including effects of the environment on galaxy morphology. He was a leader in the identification of the "great attractor" which causes a large distortion of the Hubble expansion. From 1993-1995 Dr. Dressler chaired the AURA committee "HST & Beyond: Exploration and the Search for Origins" that presented NASA with A Vision for Ultraviolet-Optical-Infrared Space Astronomy. NASA embraced the report's three recommendations—the extension of the Hubble mission, the building of a infrared-optimized successor to Hubble (the James Webb Space Telescope) to study the birth of galaxies in the early universe, and the development of technology for space telescopes capable of finding Earth-like planets around neighboring stars—which now form a substantial component of the NASA program in astrophysics. Dr. Dressler served on the NRC Committee on Setting Priorities for NSF-Sponsored Large Research Facility Projects and he chaired the Panel on Optical and Infrared Astronomy from the Ground of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee.

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JACK D. FELLOWS is vice president for corporate affairs at the University Consortium for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and the director of UCAR Office of Programs. He is responsible for the development of corporate policies and programs, management of UCAR trustees and member representative activities, UCAR development, and a broad range of scientific and educational programs that serve the atmospheric and related research and education community. Before joining UCAR in 1997, he spent 13 years at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) overseeing budget and policy issues related to the NASA, NSF, and federal-wide research and development programs. While at OMB, he helped initiate the U.S. Global Change Research Program. In 1984, he spent a year as the American Geophysical Union’s Congressional Science Fellow. During this period he worked on a range of policy issues, including water resources, satellite remote sensing, and general oversight of federal research and development funding. He helped write legislation that was enacted regarding the commercialization of land remote sensing satellites.

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FIONA A. HARRISON is a professor of physics and astronomy in the Space Radiation Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Harrison's primary research interests are in experimental and observational high-energy astrophysics. She is developing optics and detectors for future balloon- and satellite-borne x-ray and gamma-ray missions. In addition, she has an active observational program in gamma-ray, x-ray, and optical observations of gamma-ray bursts, active galaxies, and neutron stars. Dr. Harrison was a member of the NRC Committee on the Physics of the Universe. She currently serves on the Committee on NASA's Beyond Einstein Program: An Architecture for Implementation.

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JOAN JOHNSON-FREESE is chair of the Department of National Security Decision Making at the Naval War College (NWC). Prior to that, she held positions as chair of the Transnational Studies Department at the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii, as a faculty member at the Air War College in Montgomery, AL and as director of the Center for Space Policy and Law at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Johnson-Freese has focused her research and writing on security studies generally, and space programs and policies specifically, including issues relating to technology transfer and export, missile defense, transparency, space and regional development, transformation, and globalization. She is on the editorial board of China Security and a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. She has testified before Congress concerning U.S.-Sino security issues concerning space. Dr. Johnson-Freese's most recent book is Space as a Strategic Asset, Columbia University Press (2007). Her next book, Heavenly Ambition: Will America Dominate Space? is forthcoming from University of Pennsylvania Press in 2009.

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KLAUS KEIL is a researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii. He has received national recognition for his scientific contributions to the understanding of the early history of the solar system and the origin and evolution of meteorites, asteroids, and the terrestrial planets. Dr. Keil is one of the leading cosmochemists/planetary scientists in the world. He served as director of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (1994-2003). Prior to this appointment, he served first as a professor in, and then as chair of, the Department of Geology at the University of New Mexico (UNM). He was also director of the UNM Institute of Meteoritics (1968-1990), and was a researcher for NASA's Space Sciences Division at the Ames Research Center (1963-1968). He has received numerous honors and awards for his work and research, including the Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society, the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award, and the National Academy of Sciences G.P. Merrill Award.

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MOLLY K. MACAULEY is a senior fellow with Resources for the Future (RFF) where she has been director of Academic Programs since 1996. Dr. Macauley’s research at RFF has covered studies on economics and policy issues of outer space, the valuation of non-priced space resources, the design of incentive arrangements to improve space resource use, and the appropriate relationship between public and private endeavors in space research, development, and commercial enterprise. Dr. Macauley serves as a visiting professor in the Department of Economics at Johns Hopkins University and has previously served in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton University. She has frequently testified before Congress and serves on many national-level committees and panels. She served on the NRC Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, the Panel on Earth Science Applications and Societal Needs, and the Science Panel of the Review of NASA Strategic Roadmaps.

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BERRIEN MOORE III is the executive director of Climate Central. He is the former director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Moore's research focuses on the carbon cycle, global biogeochemical cycles, global change, and policy issues in the area of the global environment. From 1998-2002 he served as chair of the Science Committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and served as the lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Third Annual Report (TAR) that was released in spring 2001. In July 2001 he chaired the Global Change Open Science Conference in Amsterdam and is one of the four architects of the Amsterdam Declaration on Global Change. He has simultaneously served on and chaired numerous NASA and NOAA committees and has served on NRC committees including the Committee on Global Change Research, which produced the landmark report, Global Environmental Change: Research Pathways for the Next Decade (1999). Dr. Moore also served and co-chair of the NRC Survey Steering Committee for Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future.

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ROBERT T. PAPPALARDO is a senior research scientist in the Planetary Science Division of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. He also holds visiting faculty positions in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology and in the Department of Geological Sciences and Laboratory for Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His research interests focus on the study of processes that have shaped the icy satellites of the outer solar system, particularly Jupiter's Europa. He is also involved in the study of the nature, origin, and evolution of bright grooved terrain on Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, specifically the style of tectonism. In addition to these projects, he is interested in the geological implications of geyser-like activity on Saturn's moon, Enceladus. He is currently the project scientist for the extended mission of the Cassini spacecraft. He was formerly an affiliate member of the Galileo Imaging Team and oversaw many of the Galileo observations of Jupiter's icy Galilean satellites. Dr. Pappalardo's previous NRC service includes membership on the Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration and the Committee on Solar System Exploration Strategy. He is currently the co-chair of the Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life.

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JAMES PAWELCZYK is a physiologist at Pennsylvania State University. He was a payload specialist with a focus on neuroscience on the STS-90 mission which flew in 1998. He was a member of the NASA Life Sciences Advisory Subcommittee in the Office of Biological and Physical Research, and he served on the ReMaP Task Force (2002), which was charged with reprioritizing research on the International Space Station. He has been a principal investigator and project leader in space life sciences since 1993. Dr. Pawelczyk’s research areas include central neural control of the cardiovascular system and compensatory mechanisms for conditioning and deconditioning. He is knowledgeable about NASA and spaceflight operations and has medical expertise in the effects of space travel on human systems. He was a member of the NRC Committee on NASA’s Bioastronautics Critical Path Roadmap and the Panel to Review NASA’s Plans for Space Station Research. Dr. Pawelczyk is currently a member of the NRC Committee on Aerospace Medicine and Extreme Environments.

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SOROOSH SOROOSHIAN (NAE) is Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering, Distinguished Professor of Earth System Science in the School of Physical Sciences, and director of the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Sorooshian's research focuses on surface hydrology, primarily in the area of rainfall-runoff modeling. He has devoted much of his effort to model identification and calibration issues and has developed special estimation criteria to account for the uncertainties of calibration data. His other research interests include the application of remote sensing data for characterization of hydrologic parameters and fluxes and the implication of climate variability and change in water resources. Dr. Sorooshian has served on numerous NRC committees, including the Committee for Review of the Science Implementation Plan of the NASA Office of Earth Science. He also served as chair of the Committee to Assess the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service Initiative and chair of the Panel on the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment.

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JOAN VERNIKOS was the director of Life and Biomedical Sciences and Applications at NASA Headquarters from 1993 until September 2000. Prior to this position, she was on staff at NASA's Ames Research Center and before that, at Ohio State University Medical School where she was assistant professor of pharmacology. While at NASA, Dr. Vernikos led the research that developed the framework for determining how spaceflight and Earth's gravity affect the human body. She was the first to carry out head-down bed-rest studies in women and compare the changes in fluid and electrolyte regulation and their post-bed-rest orthostatic response to that of men. For this work and her leadership in the space sciences, she received numerous awards including the Strughold and Leverett Awards from the Aerospace Medical Association and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Women in Aerospace. After leaving NASA in 2000, Dr. Vernikos began a consulting company, Thirdage LLC.

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JOSEPH F. VEVERKA is a professor of astronomy and chair of the Astronomy Department at Cornell University. His research focuses on the use of spacecraft imaging data to identify the important processes that have affected the evolution of small bodies in the solar system. Recent investigations include comprehensive analysis of observations made by the Galileo spacecraft of asteroids Gaspra and Ida, and of Ida's satellite, Dactyl. Dr. Veverka was the team leader of the Imaging/Spectral Mapping investigation on NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission that was launched in 1996 to carry out an orbital investigation of asteroid 433 Eros. He continues to study the eolian processes on Mars and the connection between geologic processes and photometric properties on icy satellites. His recent investigations have focused on the characteristics of frost deposits on Neptune's Triton and on the polar caps of Jupiter's Galilean satellites. Dr. Veverka is a member of the imaging investigations on NASA's Galileo, Cassini, and Mars Global Surveyor missions. Dr. Veverka is chair of the NRC Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration.

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WARREN M. WASHINGTON (NAE) is a senior scientist and head of the Climate Change Research Section in the Climate and Global Dynamics Division at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). After completing his doctorate in meteorology at Pennsylvania State University, he joined NCAR in 1963 as a research scientist. Dr. Washington's areas of expertise are atmospheric science and climate research, and he specializes in computer modeling of the Earth's climate. He serves as a consultant and advisor to a number of government officials and committees on climate-system modeling. From 1978 to 1984, he served on the President's National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere. In 1998, he was appointed to NOAA’s Science Advisory Board. In 2002, he was appointed to the Science Advisory Panel of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the National Academies’ Coordinating Committee on Global Change. Dr. Washington's NRC service is extensive and includes membership on the Board on Sustainable Development, the Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, and the Panel on Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (chair). He is past chair of the National Science Board.

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ELLEN G. ZWEIBEL is a professor of astronomy and physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (UW). Prior to joining UW, Dr. Zweibel was a faculty member at the University of Colorado. Her research area is theoretical astrophysics, with emphasis on plasma astrophysics. She is affiliated with the Plasma Physics Program at UW, and is a member of the Center for Magnetic Self Organization. Dr. Zweibel’s work covers the origin and evolution of astrophysical magnetic fields—in stars, galaxies, and the intergalactic medium—and the ways in which magnetic fields affect their environments. She served on the NRC Committee on Burning Plasma Assessment and the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics. She is currently a member of the Committee on Solar and Space Physics.

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CHARLES E. WOODWARD is a professor of astronomy at the University of Minnesota. He is an infrared astronomer who conducts studies on astronomical dust particles produced in the atmosphere of evolved stars and cometary dust in the solar system. He is a board member (U.S. Representative) and incoming chair of the International Gemini Observatory and has chaired the American Astronomical Society Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy. Dr. Woodward served as a presidential faculty fellow at the University of Wyoming where he was an associate professor and a National Science Foundation fellow. His published research has covered infrared spectroscopy, star formation, novae, and comets. In 1997, he co-authored an article on the baffling halo emission from Galaxy NGC5907 for Nature. Dr. Woodward served on the NRC Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Committee on Review of Progress in Astronomy and Astrophysics toward the Decadal Vision, and the Committee on NASA Astrophysics Performance Assessment.

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SSB Staff

Richard E. Rowberg is currently Associate Executive Director for the Division of Engineering and Physical Sciences (DEPS), and Interim Director of the DEPS Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. He retired from the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress at the end of 2001. From 1994 to his retirement, he was a Senior Specialist in Science and Technology with the Resources, Science, and Industry Division of CRS. From 1985 to 1994, he was Chief of the Science Policy Research Division of CRS. From 1975 to 1985 he worked for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment where he was manager of the Energy and Materials Program from 1979 to 1985. He also served as a research engineer and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering of the University of Texas at Austin from 1969 to 1974. He received a BA in physics from UCLA in 1961, and a Ph.D. in plasma physics from UCLA in 1968.

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BRANT L. SPONBERG is the associate director of the Space Studies Board, the senior program officer for the Committee on Solar and Space Physics, and serves as a study director for the assessment of NASA’s performance in solar and space physics and the astrophysics decadal survey. Before joining the SSB, Mr. Sponberg was a program analyst with the Department of Energy (2007-2008), managed commercial launch and innovative technology development programs at NASA Headquarters (2004-2006), staffed the development of the Vision for Space Exploration under the NASA Comptroller (2003-2004), and covered NASA programs for the White House Office of Management and Budget (1997-2003). Mr. Sponberg received his M.A. in science, technology, and public policy from George Washington University (1997) and his A.B. in astrophysics and history from Harvard University (1995).

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JOSEPH K. ALEXANDER is a senior program officer for the Space Studies Board. He served as SSB director from 1998-2005. He was previously deputy assistant administrator for science in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development (1994-98), associate director of space sciences at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (1993-94), and Assistant Associate Administrator for Space Sciences and Applications in the NASA Office of Space Science and Applications (1987-93). Other positions have included deputy NASA chief scientist and senior policy analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Mr. Alexander’s own research work has been in radio astronomy and space physics. Mr. Alexander received B.S. and M.A. degrees in physics from the College of William and Mary.

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CARMELA J. CHAMBERLAIN has worked for the National Academies since 1974. She started as a senior project assistant in the Institute for Laboratory Animals for Research, which is now a board in the Division on Earth and Life Sciences, where she worked for 2 years, then transferred to the Space Science Board, which is now the Space Studies Board (SSB). She is now a program associate with the SSB.

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ARTHUR A. CHARO joined the Space Studies Board as a senior program officer in 1995. He has directed studies that have resulted in some 30 reports, notably the first NRC “decadal surveys” in solar and space physics (2002) and Earth science and applications from space (2007). Dr. Charo received his Ph.D. in physics from Duke University in 1981 and was a postdoctoral fellow in chemical physics at Harvard University from 1982 to 1985. He then pursued his interests in national security and arms control at Harvard University’s Center for Science and International Affairs. From 1988 to 1995, he worked as a senior analyst and study director in the International Security and Space Program in the U.S. Congress’s Office of Technology Assessment. Dr. Charo is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in International Security (1985-1987) and a Harvard-Sloan Foundation Fellowship (1987-1988). He was the 1988-1989 American Institute of Physics AAAS Congressional Science Fellow.

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DWAYNE A. DAY joined the Space Studies Board in 2005. He has served as the staff officer and study director for NRC studies on: the assessment of space radiation hazards to astronauts, the future of NASA’s workforce, NASA’s performance in solar system exploration, and on options for the next New Frontiers mission selection. He has a Ph.D. in political science from The George Washington University, specializing in space and national security policy. Dr. Day is the author of Lightning Rod, a history of the Air Force chief scientist’s office; has co-edited or edited several books and journal issues, and has written on American civil and military space policy and history.  Prior to joining the SSB, he worked as an investigator for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Prior to that, he worked for the Congressional Budget Office and at George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute.

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BRIAN D. DEWHURST is a program officer with the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. He joined the National Research Council in 2001 as a research assistant with the Space Studies Board, and transferred from there to the Board on Physics and Astronomy in 2002. He is the staff officer and study director for a variety of NRC activities, including the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Committee on Radio Frequencies, and other astronomy-oriented tasks. He received a B.A. in astronomy and history from the University of Virginia in 2000 and an M.A. in science, technology, and public policy from George Washington University in 2002.

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THERESA M. FISHER is a program associate with the Space Studies Board. During her 25 years with the NRC she has held positions in the executive, editorial, and proposal-contracts offices of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). She has also held positions with several NAE and NRC boards, including the Energy Engineering Board, the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, and the Marine Board.

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SANDRA J. GRAHAM joined the Space Studies Board as a senior program officer in 1994. A recipient of the National Academies Distinguished Service Award, Dr. Graham has directed a large number of major studies, many of them focused on space research in biological and physical sciences and technology. Her more recent work includes an assessment of servicing options for the Hubble Space Telescope, reviews of the NASA roadmaps for space sciences and the International Space Station, and a review of NASA’s Space Communications program while on loan to the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. She directs the activities of the Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration. Prior to receiving her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Duke University in 1990, she carried out research focused primarily on topics in bioinorganic chemistry, such as the exchange mechanisms and reaction chemistry of biological metal complexes and their analogs. From 1990 to 1994 she held the position of senior scientist at the Bionetics Corporation, where she worked in the science branch of the Microgravity Science and Applications Division at NASA headquarters.

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

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RODNEY N. HOWARD joined the Space Studies Board as a senior project assistant in 2002. Before joining SSB, most of his vocational life was spent in the health profession¾as a pharmacy technologist at Doctor’s Hospital in Lanham, Maryland, and as an interim center administrator at the Concentra Medical Center in Jessup, Maryland. During that time, he participated in a number of Quality Circle Initiatives which were designed to improve relations between management and staff. Mr. Howard obtained his B.A. in communications from the University of Baltimore County in 1983.

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CELESTE A. NAYLOR joined the NRC and the Space Studies Board in June 2002 as a senior project assistant. She has worked with the Committee on Assessment of Options to Extend the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Committee on Microgravity Research and the Task Group on Research on the International Space Station. Ms. Naylor is a member of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals and has more than seven years of experience in event management.

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TANJA E. PILZAK is the administrative coordinator for the Space Studies Board. She comes to the SSB from the Division on Earth and Life Studies where she was a research associate for five years in the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. Prior to becoming a research associate, Ms. Pilzak was a proposal specialist and a contract assistant in the Office of Contracts and Grants for three years as. She holds an M.S. in environmental management from the University of Maryland University College and a B.S. in natural resources management from the University of Maryland College Park.

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IAN W. PRYKE is a senior program officer with the Space Studies Board. Mr. Pryke, who retired from the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2003, is also a senior fellow/assistant professor at the Center for Aerospace Policy Research in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. While at ESA, he first worked in the areas of data processing and satellite communications and then, the Earth Observation Programme Office where he was involved in the formulation of ESA's Remote Sensing program. In 1979, he moved to the ESA Washington, D.C. office, where he served as a liaison to both government and industry in the U.S. and Canada. He became head of the office in 1983. Mr. Pryke holds a B.S. in physics from the University of London and an M.A. in space electronics and communications from the University of Kent. He is a fellow of the American Astronautical Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the British Interplanetary Society. He is also a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and an associate founder and trustee of the International Space University.

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ROBERT L. RIEMER joined the National Research Council in 1985. He served as senior program officer for the two most recent decadal surveys of astronomy and astrophysics and has worked on studies in many areas of physics and astronomy for the Board on Physics and Astronomy (where he served as associate director from 1988-2000) and the Space Studies Board. Prior to joining the NRC, Dr. Riemer was a senior project geophysicist with Chevron Corporation. He received his Ph.D. in experimental high-energy physics from the University of Kansas-Lawrence and his Bachelor of Science in physics and astrophysics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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CHRISTINA O. SHIPMAN is the financial officer for the Space Studies Board and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. She came to work at the SSB on a fulltime basis in January 2005, having worked with both the SSB and the NRC Executive Office immediately prior to that. She was also the financial officer for the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications for many years. She attended Mercer University and majored in sociology.

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DAVID H. SMITH joined the Space Studies Board in 1991. He is the senior staff officer and study director for a variety of NRC activities, including the Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life, the Mars Astrobiology Task Group, the Mars Architecture Assessment Task Group, the Committee on the Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems, the Task Group on Organic Environments in the Solar System, the Nuclear Systems Committee, and the proposed Lunar Science Strategy Committee. He also organizes the SSB’s summer intern program and supervises most, if not all, of the interns. He received a B.Sc. in mathematical physics from the University of Liverpool in 1976 and a D.Phil. in theoretical astrophysics from Sussex University in 1981. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Queen Mary College University (1980-1982), he held the position of associate editor and, later, technical editor of Sky and Telescope. Immediately prior to joining the staff of the SSB, Dr. Smith was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1990-1991).

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VICTORIA SWISHER, research associate, joined the Space Studies Board in 2006. She has supported studies and workshops on the Beyond Einstein program, NASA workforce, Mars research, research enabled by the lunar environment, ITAR, and other topics. Before joining the Space Studies Board, she performed research in x-ray astronomy and laboratory astrophysics, which included studying the x-rays of plasma and culminated in her senior thesis, “Modeling UV and X-ray Spectra from the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment.” A graduate of Swarthmore College, she majored in astronomy and minored in English literature.

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LINDA M. WALKER is a senior program assistant with the Space Studies Board. She has been with the National Academies of Science since September 2007. Before joining the Board Linda worked with the National Academies Press department. She has 28 years of administrative experience. She is a native Washingtonian, mother of 27-year old identical twin girls and a grandmother of two. Her hobbies are reading, traveling and spending quality time with her grandkids.

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SANDRA WILSON is a financial assistant for the Space Studies Board. She came to the NRC in 2007 and previously, was a temporary assistant in the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, The National Materials Advisory Board and the Space Studies Board. During this time, she worked on the Independent Assessment of the Nation’s Wake Turbulence R&D Program, The Assessment of NASA’s Aeronautics Research Program, Assessing Corrosion Education and the Lunar Research and Technology Workshop. Mrs. Wilson previously served in a managerial capacity in the retail industry for two years. She is currently enrolled at Prince George’s Community College, majoring in Accounting.

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