President Obama Honors NASA Scientists and Engineers

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 PHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Priscilla Vega 818-354-1357
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
priscilla.r.vega@jpl.nasa.gov

Sarah DeWitt 202-358-2451
Headquarters, Washington
Sarah.l.dewitt@nasa.gov

Image advisory: 2012-215 July 23, 2012

President Obama Honors NASA Scientists and Engineers

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-215&cid=release_2012-215

PASADENA, Calif. -- President Obama has named six NASA individuals, including one
from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., as recipients of the 2011
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The NASA
recipients and 90 other federal researchers will receive their awards in a ceremony later
this month in Washington.

The awards represent the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists
and engineers beginning their independent careers. They recognize recipients' exceptional
potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge, and their commitment to
community service as demonstrated through professional leadership, education or
community outreach.

"These talented individuals have already made significant contributions to the agency's
mission at this early stage in their careers," said NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati.
"We look forward to celebrating their continued success for many years to come."

The 2011 NASA recipients were nominated by the agency's Science Mission Directorate,
Office of the Chief Engineer, and Office of the Chief Technologist:

- Morgan B. Abney, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.,
recognized for innovative technical leadership in advancing technologies for recovering
oxygen from carbon dioxide for self-sustaining human space exploration.

- Ian Gauld Clark, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena, Calif., recognized for exceptional leadership and achievement
in the pursuit of advanced entry, descent and landing technologies and techniques for
space exploration missions.

- Temilola Fatoyinbo-Agueh, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.,
recognized for exceptional achievement in merging scientific priorities with advanced
technology to develop innovative remote-sensing instrumentation for carbon-cycle and
ecosystems science.

- Jessica E. Koehne, NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., recognized
for exceptional dedication to the development of nano-bio sensing systems for NASA
mission needs.

- Francis M. McCubbin, Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico in
Albuquerque, N.M., recognized for studies of the geochemical role of water and other
volatiles in extraterrestrial materials from the inner solar system.

- Yuri Y. Shprits, University of California, Los Angeles, recognized for early-career
leadership and innovative research and modeling in the realm of the Earth's Van Allen
radiation belts.

The PECASE awards were created to foster innovative developments in science and
technology, increase awareness of careers in science and engineering, give recognition to
the scientific missions of participating agencies, enhance connections between
fundamental research and many of the grand challenges facing the nation, and highlight
the importance of science and technology for America's future. Eleven federal
departments and agencies nominated scientists and engineers for the 2011 PECASE
awards.

For a complete list of 2011 award winners, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-
office/2012/07/23/president-obama-honors-outstanding-early-career-scientists

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov

JPL is managed by the California Institute of Technology for NASA.

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