Maria T. Zuber

E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics

Download .pdf version of CV/publication list.

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RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Theoretical modeling of geophysical processes.
• Analysis of altimetry, gravity and tectonics to determine the structure and dynamics of the Earth and solid planets.
• Development and implementation of spacecraft laser and radio tracking experiments.

EDUCATION

• Ph.D. Geophysics, Brown University, 1986.
  Ph.D. Thesis: Unstable Deformation in Layered Media: Application to Planetary Lithospheres. Thesis Advisor: E.M. Parmentier
• Sc.M. Geophysics, Brown University, 1983.
• B.A. Astrophysics (honors) and Geology, University of Pennsylvania, 1980.
  Honors Thesis: Velocity-Inclination Correlations in Galactic Clusters.

EMPLOYMENT

• Head of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003- Present.
• E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1998-Present.
• Consultant, Aerospace Division, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, 2002-Present.
• Senior Research Scientist, Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, 1994-Present.
• Professor of Geophysics and Planetary Science, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995-1998.
• Professor of Geophysics, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 1995.
• Second Decade Society Term Associate Professor of Geophysics, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 1993-1995.
• Associate Research Professor of Geophysics, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 1991-1992.
• Geophysicist, Geodynamics Branch, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, 1986-1992.
• National Research Council Research Associate, Geodynamics Branch, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, 1985-1986.
• Research Assistant, Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, 1980-1985.

VISITING APPOINTMENTS

• Guest Investigator, Department of Geology and Geophysics,, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Summers, 1996-2008.
• Senior Science Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and Visiting Scholar, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 2002-2003.
• Visiting Assistant Professor of Geophysics, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 1990.

HONORS AND AWARDS

• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Laser Ranging Team, 2009.
• U.S. News and World Report/Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership List of America's Best Leaders, 2008.
• Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa, Brown University, 2008.
• Fellow, Geological Society of America, 2008.
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2007.
• American Astronautical Society/Planetary Society Carl Sagan Memorial Award, 2007.
• Geological Society of America G.K. Gilbert Award, 2007.
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Outstanding Teamwork Award for the Earth-Mars Laser Ranging Experiment, 2006.
• Brown University Horace Mann Medal, 2005.
• Member, American Philosophical Society, 2005
• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Mercury Laser Altimeter Instrument Team, 2004.
• NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, 2004.
• Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2004.
• Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2004.
• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Mercury Laser Altimeter, 2004.
• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Mars Global Surveyor Project Science Group, 2003.
• Listed as one of the 50 Most Important Women in Science, Discover Magazine, November, 2002.
• Scientific Achievement Award, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, New England Section, 2002.
• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous-Shoemaker Mission Team, 2002.
• Fellow, American Geophysical Union, 2001.
• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Mars Program Independent Assessment Team, 2000.
• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Mars Global Surveyor Science Team, 2000.
• Asteroid 6635 Zuber discovered and designated by Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker at Palomar Observatory, 1987; approved by the IAU, 1998.
• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft encounter of Asteroid 253 Mathilde, 1998.
• NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, 1995.
• Johns Hopkins University David S. Olton Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Student Research, 1995.
• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Deep Space Program Science Experiment Lunar Orbit Mission Operations Support Team, 1994.
• Johns Hopkins University Oraculum Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 1994.
• Johns Hopkins University Second Decade Society Faculty Development Chair, 1993-1995.
• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Mars Observer Payload Development Team, 1993.
• NASA Group Achievement Award for the Mars Observer Laser Altimeter Project, 1991.
• NASA Outstanding Performance Award, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992.
• NASA Peer Award, 1988.
• Sigma Xi, 1983, 1985.

SELECTED LECTURESHIPS

• Keynote Speaker, Giant Leaps 40th Anniversary of Apollo Symposium, Cambridge, MA, 2009.
• Krumbein Lecturer, Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Nortwestern University, 2009.
• StatoilHydro Plenary Lecturer, International Geological Congress, Oslo, August, 2008.
• Distinguished Lecturer, National Space Science and Technology Center, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, 2008.
• Centennial Lecturer, School of Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 2008.
• Plenary Speaker, 50th Anniversary of Sputnik Celebration, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 2007.
• Crafoord Jubilee Plenary Lecturer, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Lund, April, 2007.
• Special Lecture, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, Kuwait City, January, 2007.
• Capital Science Evening Lecturer, Carnegie Institution, Washington, DC, November, 2004.
• Pappalardo Distinguished Lecturer, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, October, 2004.
• Niels Bohr Lecturer, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, February, 2003.
• Speaker, Crafoord Prize Symposium, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, September 2002.
• Academic Master, Chien-Shiung Wu Education Foundation Science Camp, National Central University, Republic of Taiwan, August 2002.
• Sverdrup Visiting Scholar, Department of Physics, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN, April 2002.
• Plenary Speaker, MIT Technology Day, June 2001.
• Inaugural Carl Sagan Lecturer, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 2000.
• Distinguished Leaders in Science Lecturer, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, December 1999.
• Harold S. Masursky Lecturer, Twenty-fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, Tx, March 1993.

PLANETARY MISSION PARTICIPATION

• Principal Investigator, NASA Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) Mission, 2008-Present.
• Investigation Lead, Laser Ranger, NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission, 2006-Present.
• Deputy Principal Investigator, Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission, 2004-Present.
• Co-investigator, NASA Dawn Mission to Vesta and Ceres, 2001-Present.
• Team Leader, Radio Science Gravity Investigation, 2005 NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission, 2001-Present.
• Co-investigator and Lead of the Geophysics Investigation, NASA MESSENGER Mission to Mercury, 1999-Present.
• Team Leader, Laser Ranging Investigation, NASA Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission, 1994-2001.
• Deputy Principal Investigator, Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, NASA Mars Global Surveyor Mission, 1994-Present.
• Gravity and Altimetry Team, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization/NASA Clementine Mission, 1993-1995.
• Co-investigator, Mars Observer Laser Altimeter, NASA Mars Observer Mission, 1990-1993.

PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT

• Board of Fellows, Brown University Corporation, 2009-Present.
• MIT News Office Advisory Group, 2009-Present.
• Co-Chair, Research Working Group, MIT Institute-wide Planning Task Force, 2009.
• Co-convener, MIT Women in Aerospace Symposium, 2009.
• Co-convener, Union Session on MESSENGER at Mercury: The Second Flyby, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2008.
• Program Committee, MIT Darwin Bicentennial Conference, 2008.
• Co-convenor, Session on Mars Exploration, 37th Scientific Assembly, COmmittee on SPAce Research (COSPAR), Montreal, Canada, 2008.
• Co-convenor, Session on Lunar Science and Exploration, Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) Meeting, Busan, Korea, 2008.
• External Advisory Board, Brown University ADVANCE Program, 2007-Present.
• Advisory Panel, Minding the Gap study on women in science at NASA, 2007.
• Chair, Committee to Assess Environmental Activities at MIT, 2007.
• Organizing Committee, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Symposium on "Origins of Life: The Earth, the Solar System and Beyond", 2007-Present.
• Co-convener, National Academy of Sciences Sackler Colloquium on Evolution and Exploration of Solar Systems, Irvine, January 5-6, 2007.
• External Review Team, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2006.
• American Geophysical Union Fellows Committee, 2006-Present.
• Chair, Advisory Committee on the Lincoln Laboratory Director Search, 2006.
• National Academy of Sciences Committee on Women in Academic Science and Engineering, 2005-2006.
• Screening Committee, Lemelson-MIT Prize, 2005-2006.
• National Academy of Sciences J. Lawrence Smith Medal Selection Committee, 2005.
• National Academy of Sciences Earth Science and Applications from Space Panel on Solid Earth Hazards, Resources and Dynamics, 2005-2006.
• Co-chair, NASA Science Instruments and Sensor Capability Roadmap Team, 2004-2005.
• President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy, 2004.
• NASA Mars Exploration Rover Independent Status Review Board, 2003-2004.
• Visiting Committee, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, 2003-Present.
• NASA Mars Exploration Rover Operations Readiness Review Board, 2003.
• NASA Mars Exploration Rover Landing Site Selection Review Board, 2003.
• NASA Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter Science Definition Team, 2003-2004.
• Advisory Board, Mars Gravity Biosatellite Mission Concept, 2003.
• Chair, American Geophysical Union Honors and Recognition Committee, 2002-2004.
• Chair, American Geophysical Union Planetary Sciences Section Nominating Committee, 2003.
• Prize Committee, Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, 2001-2004.
• Visiting Committee and Advisory Council, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2000-Present.
• Board of Directors, The Planetary Society, 2000-2005.
• Board of Reviewing Editors, Science, 2000-Present.
• NASA Space Science Advisory Committee, 1999-2002.
• Mars Program Independent Assessment Team, 2000.
• Judge, Siemens-Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition, 1999.
• Co-convener, Session on "Highlights of Planetary Exploration", American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting, Boston, June, 1999.
• Co-convener, Session on "New Frontiers of Earth Gravity from Space", IUGG General Assembly, Birmingham, UK, July, 1999.
• Co-convener, Session on "Latest Results from Mars Global Surveyor", American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December, 1998.
• President, Planetary Sciences Section, American Geophysical Union, 1998-2000; President-elect,1996-1998.
• Co-convener, Session on "Results of Mars Global Surveyor Elliptical Orbit Mapping, American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting, May, 1998.
• Chair, American Geophysical Union Audit and Legal Affairs Commitee, 1998-2000; Member, 1996-Present.
• NASA Europa Orbiter Mission Science Definition Team, 1997-1999.
• Local Organizing Committee, AAS Division for Planetary Sciences Annual Meeting, Cambridge, MA, July, 1997.
• Chair, American Geophysical Union, Eos Editor Search Committee, 1997-Present; Member, 1996-1997.
• Chair, American Geophsyical Union Best Student Paper in Planetary Science Selection Committee, Fall Meeting, 1996; Spring Meeting, 1997.
• Co-Author, National Academy of Sciences/NASA "Nature of Origins" Report, 1996.
• Co-Convener, Session on "A Tribute to S.K. Runcorn", American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December, 1996.
• NASA Europa Orbiter Study Team, 1996.
• NASA Mars Exploration Working Group, 1996-1997.
• National Academy of Sciences Committee on Earth Gravity from Space, 1996.
• American Geophysical Union Edward A. Flinn Award Committee, 1996-1997; 2000-Present.
• Co-Convener, Session on "Deformation of Thick Lithospheres on Earth and Venus", Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting, Brisbane, Australia, July, 1996.
• Chair, NASA/Mars Surveyor 1998 Lander Science Payload Selection Panel, 1995.
• Guest Editor, Odyssey Magazine, "Mapping the Planets" issue, November, 1995.
• NASA/Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission Science Data Center Review Board, 1995-Present.
• National Academy of Sciences Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration, 1994-1996.
• NASA Mars Science Working Group, 1993-1996.
• Chair, Mars Observer Geodesy and Geophysics Working Group, 1993.
• NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program Review Panel, 1993-1995.
• American Geophysical Union Bucher Medal Selection Committee, 1992.
• NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Management and Operations Working Group, 1993-1995.
• American Geophysical Union Bucher Medal Selection Committee, 1992-1995.
• NASA Venus Data Analysis Program Review Panel, 1992.
• NASA Planetary Geology Speakers' Bureau, 1991-1992.
• NASA Dynamics of the Solid Earth Program Review Panel, 1991.
• American Geophysical Union Tectonophysics Section Nominating Committee, 1991.
• NASA Solid Earth Science Coolfont Report Panel, 1989.
• Program Committee, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 1989.
• Associate Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research, 1989-1992.
• Consultant, NASA Education Office National High School Mission to Mars Course, 1988-1992.
• Editor, Planetary Geosciences -- 1988-1990.
• Associate Editor, Geophysical Research Letters, 1988-1991.
• NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Working Group, 1987-1990.
• Planetary Program Committee, American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting, 1985.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES

• American Geophysical Union
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Astronomical Society, Division for Planetary Sciences
• American Astronautical Society
• Geological Society of America

ENGINEERING CERTIFICATIONS (for those who think I have no practical skills)

• Laser Safety
• Clean Room Procedures
• Electrostatic Discharge Control

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