Current MAVEN Principal Investigator:
Dr. Shannon Curry
Research Scientist
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
University of Colorado, Boulder
Research Interests:
Dr. Shannon Curry is an Associate Professor in the Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences (APS) Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder and is currently the Principal Investigator of the NASA Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission. Prior to this, she served as the Assistant Deputy Director of Planetary Science at the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focus is on the evolution of planetary atmospheres with respect to the sun’s radiation environment, solar wind and solar activity. She is also involved in mission concepts, mission design and instrument development for future flight missions to other bodies in the solar system. She is currently a science team member on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission, Project Scientist for NASA’s ESCAPADE mission (phase D), and a collaborator on NASA’s Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) program. She also serves on NASA’s Planetary Advisory Committee (PAC).
Former MAVEN Principal Investigator (2003-2021):
Dr. Bruce M. Jakosky
Professor of Geological Sciences
Associate Director for Science, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
Ph.D., 1982, California Institute of Technology
Research Interests:
Prof. Jakosky teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in both Earth and planetary geology and extraterrestrial life, including both the science and the societal and philosophical issues relating to the science. His research interests are in the geology of planetary surfaces, the evolution of the Martian atmosphere and climate, the potential for life on Mars and elsewhere, and the philosophical and societal issues in astrobiology. He has been involved with the Viking, Solar Mesosphere Explorer, Clementine, Mars Observer, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft missions, and is involved in planning future spacecraft missions. He heads up the University of Colorado’s team in the NASA Astrobiology Institute. He has published more than 100 papers in the refereed scientific literature. His book “The Search for Life on Other Planets” was published in 1998 by the Cambridge University Press, and “Science, Society and the Search for Life in the Universe” was published in 2006 by University of Arizona Press. He serves on numerous national advisory committees. He serves as Associate Director for Science in the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado.
