Kevin Hand

Kevin Hand (courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Kevin Hand is an astrobiologist and planetary scientist at JPL.[1][2] He is also the founder of Cosmos Education[1][2] and was its president until 2007.[3] He was working at NASA Ames when he was inspired to form Cosmos Education in 1999 after getting a grant from the Earth and Space Foundation to tour African schools to talk about how education relates to space research.[4][5]

Hand studied psychology and physics as an undergraduate at Dartmouth.[6] He earned a master's degree at Stanford University in mechanical engineering while also working as a public policy research associate at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC).[6][7] He chose the question of whether Europa's putative ocean could harbor life as his Geological & Environmental Sciences PhD dissertation topic, under the direction of Christopher Chyba,[7] earning the doctorate in 2007.[6]

While a PhD student, he was chosen by James Cameron to take marine biology samples from hydrothermal vents in subsea expeditions to the mid-Atlantic ridge and East Pacific Rise.[7] He was a featured scientist in Cameron's 2005 IMAX documentary, Aliens of the Deep.[8]

At a 2014 NASA panel discussion, Hand predicted that extraterrestrial life would be found within 20 years.[9][10]

References

  1. 1 2 "Kevin Hand, Planetary Scientist and Astrobiologist". Emerging Explorers. National Geographic. 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  2. 1 2 Bowermaster, Jon (July 27, 2011). "The five explorers of the future". GADLING. AOL.com. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  3. Ravneet Sehmi (27 August 2008). "Bringing Science Education Down to the Grass Roots" (PDF). Nairobi Star; Star Life. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  4. Charles Cockell; Don White; Douglas Messier; M. Dale Stokes (2002). "Fostering links between environmental and space exploration: the Earth and Space Foundation" (PDF). Space Policy. 18: 301–306. doi:10.1016/s0265-9646(02)00043-7. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  5. "Earth and Space Awards 1999". Earth and Space Foundation. 1999. Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  6. 1 2 3 "Kevin Hand". JPL Science: Planetary Ices: People. JPL.
  7. 1 2 3 "Kevin Hand". Voices. Mountain View, CA: SETI Institute.
  8. "Kevin Hand". SETI Institute Explorer. SETI Institute. 2005.
  9. connecticut.cbslocal.com/2014/07/15/nasa-humans-will-prove-we-are-not-alone-in-the-universe-within-20-years/
  10. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/15/we-are-not-alone-in-universe-nasa-habitable-planets_n_5588455.html

Selected publications


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