Introducing: Planetary Scientist - Prof. Kerri Cahoy

Cahoy joined EAPS in July 2011 as an Assistant Professor in the Planetary Sciences Program. She received her BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University in 2000, and MS (2002) and PhD (2008) in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University working with the Mars Global Surveyor radio science team. She uses spacecraft radio systems to study the atmospheres and ionospheres of solar system planets. She is also interested in using space-based instrumentation, including cameras, telescopes, and coronagraphs, to search for and characterize planets outside our solar system. Cahoy spent 2006-2008 designing and building geostationary radio-frequency communication satellite payloads at Space Systems Loral, and from 2008-2010 as a NASA postdoctoral research fellow working on exoplanet mission design and simulations at the Ames Research Center. Most recently, Cahoy has been working with the MIT and Goddard Space Flight Center team on the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) dual-spacecraft mission to the Moon, scheduled to launch in September 2011. Professor Cahoy, holds a joint appointment in Aero-Astro.