Jamie Molaro Receives Susan Mahan Niebur Early Career Award
Dr. Jamie Molaro (2015) is a Research Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute studying weathering and landscape evolution on airless icy and rocky bodies. After receiving her Ph.D. from LPL in 2015, she obtained a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she is geographically based. Dr. Molaro is a former Participating Scientist on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission and current member of the Sample Science Team, as well as a Co-I for the SSERVI Project ESSPRESSO team. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the NASA Planetary Science Early Career Award in 2023 and naming of Asteroid 30379 Molaro by the International Astronomical Union in 2021. In addition to planetary science, Molaro has also performed research to advance accessible design in human spaceflight with AstroAccess.
Dr. Molaro is also known for her public outreach effort the Art of Planetary Science, which brings art and science together in exhibitions and workshops, and for her founding and leadership of Disabled for Accessibility In Space (DAIS), a peer networking and support organization for Disabled space professionals.
The 2024 Susan Mahan Niebur Early Career Award is an annual award given to early-career scientists who have made significant contributions to the science or exploration communities. Recipients of the Susan M. Niebur Early Career Award are researchers who are no more than ten years from receiving their terminal degree, who have shown excellence in their field and demonstrated meaningful contributions to the science or exploration communities.