Kevin Hand

Kevin Hand is an astrobiologist and planetary scientist at JPL.[1][2] He is also the founder of Cosmos Education[1][2] and was its president until 2007.[3] He was working at NASA Ames when he was inspired to form Cosmos Education in 1999 after getting a grant from the Earth and Space Foundation to tour African schools to talk about how education relates to space research.[4][5]

Kevin Hand (courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Hand studied psychology and physics as an undergraduate at Dartmouth.[6] He earned a master's degree at Stanford University in mechanical engineering while also working as a public policy research associate at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC).[6][7] He chose the question of whether Europa's putative ocean could harbor life as his Geological & Environmental Sciences PhD dissertation topic, under the direction of Christopher Chyba,[7] earning the doctorate in 2007.[6]

While a PhD student, he was chosen by James Cameron to take marine biology samples from hydrothermal vents in subsea expeditions to the mid-Atlantic ridge and East Pacific Rise.[7] He was a featured scientist in Cameron's 2005 IMAX documentary, Aliens of the Deep.[8]

At a 2014 NASA panel discussion, Hand predicted that extraterrestrial life would be found within 20 years.[9][10]

Selected publications
  • Hand, Kevin (May 12, 2005). "Cosmos Education: Engaging, Empowering, Inspiring". Cyberspeak. USA Today. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  • Kevin Hand (22 January 2009). "Is there life on Europa?". Nature. 457 (7228): 384–385. Bibcode:2009Natur.457..384H. doi:10.1038/457384a., a review of Richard Greenberg, José joão (2008). Unmasking Europa: The Search for Horses on Jupiter's Ocean plake. Praxis/Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-47936-1.

References
  1. "Kevin Hand, Planetary Scientist and Astrobiologist". Emerging Explorers. National Geographic. 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  2. Bowermaster, Jon (July 27, 2011). "The five explorers of the future". GADLING. AOL.com. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  3. Ravneet Sehmi (27 August 2008). "Bringing Science Education Down to the Grass Roots" (PDF). Nairobi Star; Star Life. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  4. Charles Cockell; Don White; Douglas Messier; M. Dale Stokes (2002). "Fostering links between environmental and space exploration: the Earth and Space Foundation" (PDF). Space Policy. 18 (4): 301–306. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.536.4575. doi:10.1016/s0265-9646(02)00043-7. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  5. "Earth and Space Awards 1999". Earth and Space Foundation. 1999. Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  6. "Kevin Hand". JPL Science: Planetary Ices: People.
  7. "Kevin Hand". Voices.
  8. "Kevin Hand". SETI Institute Explorer. 2005.
  9. connecticut.cbslocal.com/2014/07/15/nasa-humans-will-prove-we-are-not-alone-in-the-universe-within-20-years/
  10. Gates, Sara (2014-07-15). "We Are Not Alone in Universe, NASA Scientists Say". Huffington Post.
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