Dr. Jamie Molaro (2015) won both the 2024 Sagan Medal and the 2024 Neibur Early Career Award. The Sagan Medal, awarded by the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, recognizes outstanding communication by a planetary scientist to the public. The Neibur Award is given by NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute to an investigator within 10 years of their Ph.D. who has made significant contributions to the exploration science communities.

Jamie is a Research Scientist with the Planetary Science Institute. She is a former participating scientist on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission and current member of the sample science team, as well as a co-investigator for Project ESPRESSO (Exploration Science Pathfinder Research for Enhancing Solar System Observations). She studies how heating and cooling breaks down rocks and boulders over time. Outreach and service are important parts of her career. She is the founder and the director of both The Art of Planetary Science, a public engagement effort to help people connect to science through art shows and workshops, and DAIS (Disabled for Accessibility In Space), a peer networking and support organization for Disabled scientists.