Biography

Robert Pappalardo is a Project Scientist, JPL Fellow, and Senior Research Scientist in the Planetary Science Section, Science Division.

In 1986 he received his B.A. in Geological Sciences from Cornell University, and in 1994 he obtained his Ph.D. in Geology from Arizona State University. As an affiliate member of the Galileo Imaging Team while a researcher at Brown University, he worked to plan many of the Galileo observations of Jupiter's icy Galilean satellites. From 2001-2006, he was an Assistant Professor of Planetary Sciences in the Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Department of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and he continues to mentor graduate student and postdoctoral researchers. Science communications being a priority, he has worked with a variety of organizations to bring the excitement of planetary exploration to the public.

Pappalardo's research focuses on processes that have shaped the icy satellites of the outer solar system, especially Europa and the role of its probable subsurface ocean. Europa research includes the possibility that solid-state convection has played an important role in the satellite's history, investigation of regions of separation and spreading of the satellite's icy lithosphere, and implications of surface geology for lithospheric properties and the existence of a liquid water ocean beneath the icy surface. Additional research involves the nature, origin, and evolution of bright grooved terrain on Jupiter's moon Ganymede, and the geological history of Saturn's moons Enceladus and Titan. Recent research relates to the relative roles of tectonics, icy volcanism, and mass wasting in shaping icy satellite surfaces.