Patricia Grizzaffi Campbell (Rogers), a planetary scientist with RAND and NASA, passed away at her home March 9 after a long and courageous struggle with cancer. She was 37 years old.
Dr. Campbell received her B.A. in Geological Sciences from Harvard University in 1985, and her M.S. in Planetary Geology from Brown University in 1987. From 1988 to 1991, she worked for RAND in Santa Monica, CA, on a variety of planetary science programs, including geodetic control networks for Mars, Mercury, Triton, and Venus, and Magellan mission planning and data analysis. She also participated in the development of mission concepts and architectures for the NASA Space Exploration Initiative.
In 1991, while remaining a RAND staff scientist, she moved to NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, as a Discipline Scientist in the Solar System Exploration Division. At NASA Headquarters, she played a major role in formalizing the NASA science review process that has brought hundreds of promising new, young scientists into the NASA research programs. Over the next seven years, she successfully managed a number of major research and analysis programs. These included the Venus Data Analysis Program, Origins of Solar Systems Program, and the Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program. She was highly regarded by both NASA management and the science community for her dedication, scientific knowledge, and management skills. As a leader in NASA's Mars Surveyor Program, Dr. Campbell served as the Program Scientist for the Mars Global Surveyor and the Mars 2001 Orbiter and Lander Missions. She was also responsible for all technical and management oversight of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX. "Trish was a remarkable scientist, respected colleague, and an incredible friend," writes John Grant, planetary scientist and Planetary Geology Discipline Scientist in the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA Headquarters. "Her unselfish efforts were of a tremendous service to the science communities represented by these programs and she will be sincerely missed by the many individuals that she worked with over the years."
While fulfilling these very demanding duties at NASA, she obtained her Ph.D. in Geophysics from The Johns Hopkins University in 1997, and carried on an active scientific research program. Her dissertation addressed field and modeling studies of fluid dynamical processes in physical volcanology. In 1998, she left NASA for a Distinguished Visiting Scientist appointment at the Smithsonian Institution. Her research interests included Venus and Mars geophysics, volcanism, geologic mapping, and lava flow emplacement dynamics. In each of these areas, she published or collaborated on important papers and contributed numerous unique scientific insights. "The fact that Trish could simultaneously manage multiple programs at NASA, complete her Ph.D., and do top notch science is a testament to the breadth and depth of her abilities," notes Grant. Her thesis advisor, Maria Zuber, now of MIT, noted that "Throughout her thesis work and beyond Trish's research just kept getting better and better. Scientifically, she was on a steeply rising trajectory, but fate conspired to deny her the opportunity to follow through on her many ideas. Planetary volcanology's next generation has lost a major contributor."
Dr. Campbell was a member of the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, and the American Astronomical Society.