David P. Fidler
DAVID P. FIDLER is an adjunct senior fellow for cybersecurity and global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and is the James Louis Calamaras Professor of Law (emeritus) at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. He works on international law and global governance issues across many policy areas, including cyberspace, global health, outer space, national security, environmental protection, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction. Current activities include research on the COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity law, and emerging challenges in global space governance. He is the recipient of a Fulbright New Century Scholar Award. Fidler received his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He has served on numerous Academies’ committees, including the Review of the Report of the NASA Planetary Protection Independent Review Board and the Committee to Review Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes.
Sarah A. Gavit
SARAH A. GAVIT is the deputy division manager for the Communications, Radar and Tracking Division at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). She has over 35 years of engineering and management experience. Previous assignments at JPL include serving as the assistant Director for Engineering and Science, the project manager for the Dawn mission and the Deep Space 2 Mars Microprobe Project, the project system engineer for the Prometheus and Kepler missions, the fault protection system engineer for the Cassini mission, and as the Mars System Sterilization Study lead. Early in her career at Martin Marietta, Sarah was a mission and system engineer for the Magellan mission to Venus. Gavit operated her own business as a private consultant to NASA for spacecraft system engineering and project management, and frequently served on technical, management and cost panels for space mission evaluations. Gavit received her M.S. in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has no prior Academies’ committee experience.
Andrew Horchler
ANDREW HORCHLER is the principal research scientist at Astrobotic, where he leads the development of robotics hardware and software for space applications. He has fielded more than a dozen mobile robot platforms over the past 20 years and has published over 60 papers, proceedings, and patents. Prior to joining Astrobotic, he was the technical lead for Case Western Reserve’s DARPA’s Urban Challenge self-driving car team where he led the creation and testing of driving behaviors and developed real time trajectory planning and mapping algorithms. Horchler received his Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering (robotics) from Case Western Reserve. He has no prior Academies’ committee experience.
David M. Karl
DAVID M. KARL, NAS, is a professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii. His research interests include marine microbial ecology, biogeochemistry, long-term time-series studies of climate and ecosystem variability, and the ocean's role in regulating the global concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Dr. Karl has been a member of the Polar Research Board since 2002 and has served on the NRC's Committee on a Science Plan for the North Pacific Research Board and the Planning Committee for the International Polar Year 2007-2008, Phase 2. He received his Ph.D. in oceanography in 1978 from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Karl is nominated for his expertise in microbial life in extreme environments and his knowledge of planning and community discussions on exploring subglacial environments. He currently serves on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences editorial board, and in the past has served on various Academies’ committees including The NAKFI Steering Committee Discovering the Deep Blue Sea: Research, Innovation, Social Engagement (chair) and the Committee on Principles of Environmental and Scientific Stewardship for the Exploration and Study of Subglacial Lake Environments (member).
Eugene H. Levy
EUGENE H. LEVY is the Andrew Hays Buchanan professor of Astrophysics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University. His research interests focus on theoretical cosmic physics, with emphasis on elucidating mechanisms and processes that underlie physical phenomena in planetary and astrophysical systems. Levy’s research also includes the generation and influences of magnetic fields in natural bodies, including the Earth, Sun, and planets, the theory of cosmic rays, and the theory of physical processes associated with the formation of the solar system, stars, and other planetary systems. Prior to joining Rice University, he served in various capacities at the University of Arizona, including dean of the College of Science, head of the Planetary Science Department and director of the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory, and professor of Planetary Science. Levy has won multiple awards including the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Senior Scientist Award by the Federal Republic of Germany, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Leadership Award through the University of Arizona, and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago. Levy has served on various committees at the Academies’ including the Committee on the Review of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes, and the Committee for US-USSR Workshop on Planetary Sciences, the ad hoc Panel on Mars Sample Return, and the Planetary and Lunar Exploration Task Group.
Robert E. Lindberg, Jr.
ROBERT E. LINDBERG, Jr., is an independent consultant with over thirty-five years of experience as an accomplished aerospace executive and entrepreneur that spans government, aerospace industry, start-ups, academic, and non-profit sectors. Lindberg’s background and experience includes spacecraft and launch vehicle design; entry, descent and landing; and planetary protection. Prior to his current position, he served as vice president of two small space companies: Moon Express and Vector Launch. From 2003 to 2012 he was the president and executive director of the National Institute of Aerospace. Prior to co-founding NIA, Bob was senior vice president with Orbital Sciences Corporation (now a division of Northrop Grumman Corp). Lindberg was a former member of the NASA Advisory Council Science Committee and chaired its Planetary Protection Subcommittee. He is affiliated with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (fellow) and the American Astronautical Society (fellow and past president). Lindberg received numerous honors including the Egleston Medal from Columbia University and the Engineering Achievement Award from the University of Virginia. He has served on committees and panels for NASA, the Naval Studies Board of the Academies’, the National Security Space Architect, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the International Council on Science’s Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). Lindberg received his Eng.Sc.D. in mechanical engineering from Columbia University. He served on the Academies’ Committee on the Navy's Needs in Space for Providing Future Capabilities (member).
Margarita M. Marinova
MARGARITA M. MARINOVA is an independent consultant with experience in space and planetary exploration, in both science and engineering capacities, with the overarching goal to advance human exploration through science and technology. She has worked on improving rocket capabilities and reusability, gaining deeper understanding of the Earth and its planetary neighbors, and applying these advancements to improve life on Earth. Marinova has worked at Airbus Space Propulsion in engine nozzle research and development, and at NASA Ames Research Center as a planetary scientist and has studied a diverse variety of extreme environments, including the High Arctic, the Sahara Desert in Egypt, and the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Most recently she was at SpaceX as a propulsion systems responsible engineer for the vertical takeoff and landing F9R-Dev vehicle, vehicle responsible engineer for internal research and the reusability program, and senior Mars development engineer working on mission architecture and vehicle design for the Starship vehicle and its planetary missions. Marinova received her Ph.D. in planetary science from the California Institute of Technology. She served on the Academies’ Committee to Review the NASA’s Planetary Protection Independent Review Report.
A. Deanne Rogers
A. DEANNE ROGERS is an associate professor with the Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook University and editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research—Planets. Prior to joining Stony Brook, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology. Her research interests include using remote sensing techniques, statistical methods, laboratory spectroscopy, and thermal modeling to investigate a wide range of planetary surface processes. She manages the Earth and Planetary Remote Sensing Laboratory under the Stony Brook Center for Planetary Exploration. Rogers is the recipient of numerous awards including the NASA Planetary Science Division Early Career Fellow, the NASA Group Achievement Award for Mars Exploration Rovers, and the NASA Group Achievement Award for the 2001 Odyssey THEMIS. She received her Ph.D. in geological sciences from Arizona State University. Rogers has no prior Academies’ committee experience.
Gerhard H. Schwehm
GERHARD H. SCHWEHM has over thirty years of experience working for the European Space Agency (retired) in various positions. This includes serving as the Rosetta Mission Manager from 2004 to 2013, the head of Solar System Science Operations Division at ESA-ESAC from 2007 to 2011, and the head of Planetary Missions Division at ESA-ESTEC from 2001 to 2007. During his time at ESA, Schwehm served as a member of the Interagency Space Debris Working Group, the ESA representative for the NASA Planetary Protection Sub-group, and a member of the ESA Planetary Protection Working Group. He is an ex-officio of numerous mission and payload reviews and selection panels for ESA, NASA, and DLR. Schwehm received his Ph.D. in applied physics from the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum. He has no prior Academies’ committee experience.
Trista J. Vick-Majors
TRISTA VICK-MAJORS is an assistant professor in the Biological Sciences Department at Michigan Technological University and a member of the SALSA (Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access) Science Team. She currently serves on the Science Advisory Board for the United States Ice Drilling Program. Prior to joining Michigan Technological University, she was a postdoctoral research scientist at l'Université du Québec à Montréal and at the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station. Her main research interests focus on microbial life and biogeochemical processes in and under ice, microbial growth under oligotrophic and energy-limited conditions in aquatic systems, and clean access to pristine subglacial aquatic environments. She has participated in three research expeditions to study permanently ice-covered lakes in the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys, including the only study of the region during the onset of the austral winter, and three that accessed subglacial water under ~1 km of ice on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and Ross Ice Shelf as part of the SALSA and WISSARD (Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research and Drilling) projects. She earned her Ph.D. in ecology and environmental sciences from Montana State University. Vick-Majors served on the Academies Committee for the Review of the NASA Independent Review Board and participated in a workshop of experts convened by the Division on Earth and Life Studies on Understanding and Responding to Global Health Security Risks from Microbial Threats in the Arctic.
