Science@Ames
Key Staff
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Key Staff
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Michael D. Bicay, Director of Science
Dr. Michael D. Bicay, a native of suburban Minneapolis, earned B.S. degrees in Physics and Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire in 1981. He earned M.S. (1983) and Ph.D. (1987) degrees in Applied Physics from Stanford University. The research for his Ph.D. dissertation was carried out during a three-year residency at the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. His research interests included large-scale structure in the universe, the atomic gas content of spiral galaxies, and the infrared properties of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Upon returning to the mainland US, he accepted a National Research Council fellowship at the California Institute of Technology's Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), the primary NASA science center for the InfraRed Astronomical Satellite (and subsequent space-borne infrared observatories). In 1989, he transferred to a position on the IPAC science staff, where he conducted research on the distribution of thermal infrared and non-thermal radio emission within spiral galaxies, and on the propagation of cosmic rays within galaxy disks. One year later, he accepted a visiting appointment as a Senior Scientist in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters. Nominally a two-year position, he ultimately spent the next six years as Program Scientist for various infrared, submillimeter and radio astronomy missions and programs. While in Washington, he also served as an astrophysics consultant to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. After returning to Pasadena in 1996, he joined the science staff of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Space and Earth Sciences Directorate, and was a member of the science staff in the Project Office for the Spitzer Space Telescope, the final element in NASA's Great Observatories program. His planning and advocacy were essential in establishing and managing the innovative Spitzer Legacy Science Program. Dr. Bicay transferred to the Spitzer Science Center (SSC) at Caltech in early 1998, where he served as the primary liaison between the SSC and the external scientific community. In 2000, he was named SSC Assistant Director for Community and Public Affairs. In September 2004, Dr. Bicay accepted a Senior Executive Service (federal government) appointment as the Division Chief for Space Science and Astrobiology at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. In October 2005, he became Director of Science at Ames, leading a Directorate of 300+ staff (including 160 civil servants) conducting research in space, Earth and biological sciences.
Carol W. Carroll, Deputy Director of Science
Ms. Carol Carroll is the Deputy Director of Science at Ames. She successfully completed the Senior Executive Service Career Development Program (SESCDP) in June 2008. Prior to the SESCDP, she served as Program Manager for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Program. In 2001, Ms. Carroll worked at NASA Headquarters, serving as the Program Executive for the In-Space Propulsion Program in the Office of Space Science. Prior to going to HQ, she worked in the Space Technology Division for seven years as a Systems Engineer, Project Manager, Deputy Division Chief, and ultimately acting Division Chief where she managed the research and technology development efforts for Thermal Protection System development, aerothermodynamic analysis, and arc jet testing and nanotechnology. Ms. Carroll has served in various leadership capacities on numerous NASA programs, including multiple Space Transportation projects, such as the X-33 and X-34, and the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel Modernization Project. Prior to joining Ames, Ms. Carroll was a Senior Engineer in private industry where she performed technical management for the design, analysis, fabrication and testing of several prototype and production missile launch systems. Ms. Carroll is the recipient of several awards including the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, numerous NASA Group Achievement awards, and the Boeing Pride In Excellence Award for Engineering Excellence. She is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA and obtained her BSME from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Fred Van Wert, Associate Director for Management Operations
Fred Van Wert received an MPA degree from Brigham Young University before joining NASA in 1973 as Administrative Specialist for the Institute for Advanced Computation (ILLIAC IV Project). In 1978 he became Financial Manager for the 40x80x120 Wind Tunnel Modification Project, then transferred to the Space Projects Division as Financial Manager and Performance Analyst for the Galileo Jupiter Probe Project in 1980. In 1982 he became Project Control Officer for the National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex (NFAC) Project, overseeing cost, schedule and configuration management functions through its completion in 1987. He then returned to the Space Projects Division as Lead Resources Manager, supporting Pioneer Mission Operations, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), Superfluid Helium On-Orbit Transfer, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), and Lunar Prospector. In 1997 he became Resources Executive for the Space Directorate and in 2007 was named Associate Director for Management Operations in the Science Directorate.
Jill Bauman, Associate Director for Mission Concepts
Dr. Jill J. Bauman earned a B.S. in Physics at the University of Florida while working in the Micro-Kelvin Laboratory, one of the premier low-temperature centers in the world. There she developed and tested radiation shielding materials and diffusion welding techniques for nuclear demagnetization refrigerators. She earned an M.S. degree in Physical Oceanography from the State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook, in the Marine Sciences Research Center. During this time, she held a Research Associate position at Brookhaven National Laboratory where she conducted her thesis to understand the correlation between oceanic phytoplankton biomass and global cloud albedo. Dr. Bauman earned a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Physics from the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres, SUNY. During this time she conducted her dissertation research in the Atmospheric Physics Branch at Ames Research Center (ARC). During her residency at Ames she became interested in space flight mission implementation and attended the International Space University in Barcelona. In 2000, Dr. Bauman accepted a civil service position at Ames in the Advanced Concepts Development Branch within the Projects Division. She spent the next several years managing project and instrument teams during concept development for space flight, and served as proposal and instrument manager and co-investigator on numerous proposals. Through NASA's Leadership Development Program, she was detailed to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to work in the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) Project Office. She helped lead and manage the development, integration and implementation of the JIMO Reentry Aeroshell Team. Dr. Bauman also did a short detail assignment at Kennedy Space Center as Mission Integration Manager for the Kepler mission. After returning to California, she became Branch Chief for Systems and Project Engineering at Ames and spent three years providing technical direction to an engineering staff of nearly 40 and managing the systems engineering resources and capabilities required to formulate and implement successful space flight projects. Dr. Bauman now serves as the Associate Director of Science for Mission Concepts, the Directorate's focal point for new mission opportunities and concept development. She is the lead interface between the Science, Engineering, Space Projects and New Business Directorates for all new mission concept planning and development. She is responsible for reviewing the technical, management and cost elements of projects; analyzing project risk; determining system and sub-system technical readiness; identifying the resources required to formulate advance mission concepts; and managing and providing technical direction to project teams.
Lori-Ann Munar, Administrative Assistant, Science Directorate
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Timothy Lee, Chief, Space Science and Astrobiology Division
Dr. Timothy J. Lee was born and raised in Denver, Colorado where his passion was participating in many sporting activities with his two brothers. He earned a B.Sc. degree in Chemistry, with a minor in Chemical Engineering, from the Colorado School of Mines, followed by a Ph.D. in Theoretical (Physical) Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. He accepted a NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Cambridge. Following his postdoctoral studies, he worked as a Research Scientist for the ELORET Institute at NASA Ames Research Center for five months before accepting a civil service position at Ames within the Computational Chemistry Branch. In 2001, he moved into the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division, and in 2005 he became the Astrophysics Branch Chief within the Space Science and Astrobiology Division. Since March 2007, he has been the Division Chief of the Space Science and Astrobiology Division. Dr. Lee's research involves the development of novel quantum mechanical methods in electronic structure theory and their application to chemistry and physics problems in the study of the interstellar medium, planetary atmospheres, T dwarfs, Earth sciences, novel rocket fuels, and other areas of interest to NASA. Currently, he is actively involved in the calculation of highly accurate rovibrational, temperature-dependent spectra of small molecules of interest to infrared astronomy and astrophysics, including ammonia and methanol. He is also researching the vertical electronic absorption or emission processes in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), neutrals, cations, anions, and other derivatives, such as nitrogen substituted PAHs (PANHs), or PAH clusters, and the investigation of the properties of molecules of interest in atmospheres (including Earth) such as chemical stability, thermal stability, spectroscopy (both rovibrational and electronic), ozone depletion potentials, and global warming potentials. Dr. Lee has authored or coauthored more than 165 peer-reviewed publications, and for his research accomplishments he was awarded the 1998 Dirac Medal of the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists, and was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society (2001) and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2005). He is listed among the most accomplished chemists in the world according to the Hirsch Index and counts the Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal among his NASA honors.
Mark L. Fonda, Deputy Chief, Space Sciences and Astrobiology Division
Mark L. Fonda
is Deputy Chief of the Space Science and Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames Research Center. He earned his B.S. in Biology from the University of California -- Davis in 1979, and his MBA in Management from Golden Gate University in 1985. He started working at Ames in 1981 for General Electric in the Life Science Division and became a civil service employee in 1989 as a Physical Scientist in the Exobiology Branch of the Space Science Division. While working for General Electric, Mark participated in all aspects of the Space Shuttle Flight Experiments Program including: science definition, mission operations, test and integration and project management for Space Shuttle Flight Projects (SL-3, SLS1 and SLJ). Since becoming a NASA employee, he has lead many project teams including development of the Gas-Grain Space Station Facility for International Space Station and a variety of Space Sciences planetary instrument/facility definition and development laboratory breadboard concepts. In 1999-2001 he was Project Manager for a series of Astrobiology Missions to study the Leonids meteor showers. In 2003, he was named the Space Science Division Deputy Chief and served as the Acting Division Chief for Space Science Division in 2004. He is now the Deputy Division Chief for Space Sciences and Astrobiology, assisting in leading a Division of 55+ Scientific and Administrative Staff (including another 40+ contractor and grantee staff) conducting both basic and applied research in Space Sciences. In addition to his managerial responsibilities, Mark currently assists NASA Headquarters in the technical management of the Planetary Protection Research and Analysis Program.
Steve Hipskind, Chief, Earth Sciences Division
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Ed Sheffner, Deputy Chief, Earth Sciences Division
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David Bergner, Acting Deputy Chief, Space Biosciences Division
Dr. David Bergner is Deputy Chief of the Division of Space Biosciences. He began his NASA career in 1980 as a student intern at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama working in photovoltaics and semiconductor processing research. In 1984 he came to Ames Research Center in California to work as a biomedical engineer and experiment manager for space life sciences payloads. As a designer, systems engineer, and project manager, he helped develop and deploy various instruments, apparatus, and animal habitats for space life-sciences research. He also helped develop and deploy automated instruments and data systems for high-altitude atmospheric research, including an airborne sun-photometer and a high-altitude radon measurement instrument. He led a team to design, develop, and deploy a crew-worn physiological monitoring system, or "bio-belt," flown on the SpaceLab-Japan mission and the Russian Mir space station. As a Systems Engineering Manager for the Advanced Air Transportation Technologies Project, he helped define and implement processes to plan and track over 250 milestones across six project elements, which represented a $300M investment. He helped formulate and manage the Engineering for Complex Systems (ECS) program. For ECS, he managed research portfolios and participated in risk management research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for Space Mission Architecture and Design, and Johnson Space Center's Mission Operations Directorate. He also participated in ethnographic research on team collaboration tools at a global technology company headquartered in Silicon Valley. Dr. Bergner received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Engineering at Stanford University. Before coming to Stanford, he received his B.S. in Applied Sciences at the University of Louisville, and completed all course work for an M.A. in Sociology at San Jose State University. In 2005, he was a visiting researcher at the Stanford Center for Design Research, where he collaborated in research on design-team interaction, decision-making, and performance. He is also a fellow of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (Stanford "d-school") 2006 summer program.
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