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President-elect Joe Biden announced the team that will update him on all things NASA ahead of his inauguration in January 2021.
NASA’s “agency review team” consists of five women and three men, and includes two former NASA chief scientists and a former astronaut among its various ranks. All serve on a volunteer basis, according to the review team’s website, which you can find here.
This website also states the purpose of the different teams: “The agency review teams are responsible for understanding the operations of each agency, ensuring a smooth transfer of power and preparing for the passage of President-elect Biden. and Vice President-elect Harris and their cabinet working the ground on day one. “
Related: Presidential Visions of Space: From Ike to Trump
The members of the NASA review team are:
Ellen stofan (team leader): Stofan is a planetary geologist who directs the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, the first woman to do so. She was NASA’s chief scientist from August 2013 to December 2016.
Waleed Abdalati: Abdalati heads the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint effort of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Colorado, Boulder. He was NASA’s chief scientist from January 2011 to December 2012.
Jedidah Isler: Isler is an assistant professor of astrophysics at Dartmouth College who, in 2014, became the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate. in Astrophysics from Yale University. Isler is studying how black holes serve as particle accelerators and is “very interested and active in creating more equitable STEM. [science, technology, engineering and math] spaces for scholars of color at large, and in particular, for women of color, “according to his Dartmouth faculty page.
Bavya lal: Lal is a scientist at the IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute, a federally funded organization that supports the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and other agencies. “At STPI, Mr. Lal leads the analysis of space technology, strategy and policy for the OSTP, the National Space Council, NASA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Aviation Administration and ‘other federal agencies and departments focused on space. according to a Biography published with his testimony at a 2018 House of Representatives hearing.
Pam melroy: Melroy is a retired US Air Force officer and former NASA astronaut who flew on three space shuttle missions. She was a pilot on STS-92 and STS-112 flights in 2000 and 2002, respectively, and commanded the STS-120 mission in 2007. After leaving NASA in 2009, Melroy worked at the Federal Aviation Administration and then at Defense Advanced Research. Project Agency (DARPA), where she was Deputy Director of the Office of Tactical Technology. She left DARPA in 2017.
Dave noble: Noble is Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan. He previously spent eight years in the Obama administration, as Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Presidential Office of Personnel, “where, among other responsibilities, he oversaw pipeline construction teams of various political nominees. and teams creating leadership development programs for the 3,500 people appointed by the administration., “his ACLU Michigan biography reads. He also worked as a White House liaison and NASA deputy chief of staff during this time, the biography adds.
Shannon Valley: Valley is a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she studies the history of our planet’s climate. During the first five years of President Barack Obama’s administration (before entering graduate school), Valley worked in the White House and at NASA Headquarters as a liaison between Congress and the science programs of the space agency, according to this recent profile.
David weaver: Weaver is director of communications for the Air Line Pilots Association. He was Associate Administrator of NASA’s Office of Communications from 2010 to 2016, so he covers NASA’s altitude range well. (Reminder: the first “A” in NASA stands for “aeronautics.”) Just before joining NASA, Weaver was chief of staff to U.S. Representative Chris Van Hollen, D-Md, according to Biography of Weaver on NASA.
One of the other newly announced agency review teams has a connection to NASA, by the way: former astronaut Kathyrn sullivan will be part of the Department of Commerce team. Sullivan, a geologist who flew on three space shuttle missions between 1984 and 1992, also led NOAA from March 2014 to January 2017.
Mike Wall is the author of “Over there“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book on the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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