Doctoral advisor Perry A. Gerakines [1] | ||
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Known for anti-harassment efforts Notable awards 2014 NASA Headquarters Special Service Award,
2015 WJU James O'Brien Award from Wheeling Jesuit University,
2015 Harold Masursky Award from the Division for Planetary Sciences,
2016 UAB Trailblazing Alumni Award Alma maters Wheeling Jesuit University, University of Alabama at Birmingham Fields Planetary science, Astrophysics Institutions Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters | ||
Christina "Chrissy" Richey, Ph.D. is an American planetary scientist and astrophysicist working as contractor for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. She is a Program Officer in NASA's Planetary Science Division, the Deputy Program Scientist for the OSIRIS-REx mission, and the Deputy Science Advisor for Research and Analysis for the Science Mission Directorate.
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Richey is known for her education about the effects of harassment in the workplace and within the planetary and astronomical sciences. She was the Chair of the American Astronomical Society's Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy from 2015-2017 and is currently co-Chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences' Subcommittee on Professional Climate and Culture, and an active blogger for the Women in Astronomy blog
Early life and education
Richey received her undergraduate degree in Physics at Wheeling Jesuit University in 2004. She completed her Masters (2007) and PhD (2011) in Physics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she did laboratory investigations related to both the icy moons of the outer solar system and the interstellar medium. She was a NASA postdoctoral fellow at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she studied the optical properties of dust grain analogs to better understand early stellar system formation.
Career and research
Richey is the Deputy Science Advisor for the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD), where she compiles and distributes information about the Research and Analysis (R&A) awards from the SMD Divisions, and focuses on communication with the greater communities working directly with the SMD. Additionally, she is the Deputy Program Scientist in the Planetary Science Division for the OSIRIS-REx Mission (the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security- Regolith Mission). OSIRIS-REx launched in 2016 and will travel to a near-Earth Asteroid, called Bennu and bring back a returned sample to Earth for study. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth. She is additionally a Program Officer in PSD, where she runs several R&A Programs.
In addition to her work at NASA Headquarters, she has worked to promote inclusion within her field. She has spent much of her career speaking at conferences about harassment, efforts to overcome the problems within the field, and educating her peers about the impact harassment has on their colleagues. She says women in vulnerable positions within the field—women of color, young women, and those who need to advance their careers—are more likely to face harassment in the workplace. Richey was the Chair of the American Astronomical Society's Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy from 2015-2017 and is currently the co-Chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences' Subcommittee on Professional Climate and Culture.
Awards and honors
2014:
Recognized with an NASA Headquarters Honor Award.[2]2015:
Received WJU James O'Brien Award from Wheeling Jesuit University[3] Named the Alumni Scholar in Residence by Wheeling Jesuit University[4] Received Harold Masursky Award from the Division for Planetary Sciences for outstanding service to planetary science and exploration2016:
Received the Trailblazing Alumni Award in the College of Arts and Sciences by The University of Alabama at Birmingham[5]