Catharine Conley

Catharine Conley
NASA Planetary Protection Officer
In office
2006–2018
President
Preceded by John Rummel
Succeeded by Lisa Pratt
Personal details
Born Catharine Anastasia Conley
Nationality US
Other names Cassie Conley
Alma mater
Scientific career
Fields Biology
Institutions Ames Research Center
Thesis Spatial and temporal localization of the defects associated with Petunia cytoplasmic male sterility (1995)

Catharine Anastasia Conley was NASA's Planetary Protection Officer from 2006 through 2018.

Education

Conley received her bachelor's from MIT, a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from Cornell University in 1994,[1] and obtained a postdoctoral fellow position at The Scripps Research Institute studying proteins involved in muscle contraction.[2][3] Conley conducted some of her research using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.[4][5]

NASA career

In 1999 Conley became a research scientist with the NASA Ames Research Center. Her research focuses on the evolution of motility, particularly animal muscle. One of her experiments was on board during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The experiment, the fourteenth Biological Research In Canisters (BRIC-14), survived re-entry and the nematode cultures were still alive. Some scientific data was recovered.[6]

In 2006, Conley was appointed as NASA's Planetary Protection Officer (see Planetary protection).[7][8][9][10][11][12] A NASA re-organization opened the job for competition in 2017, and Conley was replaced by Dr. Lisa Pratt in February 2018.[13][14]

References

  1. ↑ Conley, Catharine Anastasia (1995). Spatial and temporal localization of the defects associated with Petunia cytoplasmic male sterility (Ph.D.). Cornell University. OCLC 693242966 – via ProQuest. (Subscription required (help)).
  2. ↑ Catharine Conley
  3. ↑ Person Report: Catharine Conley
  4. ↑ International Caenorhabditis elegans Experiment: Physiological Study of Nematode Worms in Weightlessness (ICE-First) 2009-02-20
  5. ↑ Viso, Michel. "International Ceonorhabditis elegans Experiment First flight: Science Goals and Objectives". Dutch Experimental Support Center.
  6. ↑ Columbia Survivors 2006-01-01
  7. ↑ Leary, Warren E. (October 9, 2007). "In NASA's Sterile Areas, Plenty of Robust Bacteria". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ Shades of Gravity: Interview with Catharine Conley 2007-11-05
  9. ↑ Conley, Catharine A. (March 2008). "Planetary protection considerations for mars sample return" (PDF). Lunar and Planetary Institute.
  10. ↑ Meet Cassie Conley
  11. ↑ Spaceward bound: Cassie Conley
  12. ↑ Catharine Conley Pipl Profile
  13. ↑ Voosen, Paul (February 22, 2018). "NASA planetary protection officer suggests loosening limits on exploring Mars for life". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aat4041.
  14. ↑ "Indiana University astrobiologist named planetary protection officer at NASA". Indiana University. January 18, 2018.
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