By Joan F. Simoneau, Community Reporter
Region – Dawn Gelino, Ph.D., a former resident of Hudson, is currently a scientist and manager for the Science Affairs team at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Exoplanet Science Institute in Pasadena, Calif., a position she finds interesting and fulfilling.
“I am a conduit between NASA and the scientific astronomy community,” she explained. “Some of my duties include running the Sagan program of fellowships and workshops for NASA headquarters, and controlling all of NASA’s time on the two W.M. Keck telescopes in Hawaii.”
Gelino is the daughter of Susanne Morreale Leeber, president and CEO of the Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce. Leeber introduced her daughter to the local Rotary Club four years ago when she spoke to them about new discoveries of exoplanets, or planets outside of our solar system.
Gelino is also a co-leader of NASA headquarters’ NExSS initiative, a group of 200 scientists who study the earth, stars, sun and exoplanets.
“Our goal is to try to look at research problems from different perspectives, to solve them more quickly, and advance NASA’s search for life in the universe,” she said. “I also work on figuring out if the exoplanets that we find have the right temperatures to possibly harbor life.”
The mother of two is pleasantly busy when not working, chatting with her mother, and enjoying Molly, 9, and Alex, 12, helping them with homework and other activities.
Noted Leeber: “Not only am I proud of my daughter but I am amazed and impressed with every accomplishment and assignment. She is also a great mother and daughter.”
The study of exoplanets is a relatively new field. The discovery of the first exoplanet around a star other than like our sun was made in 1995. Since the launch of NASA’s Kepler space telescope six years ago, more than 300 exoplanets have been found, with thousands of additional candidates waiting to be confirmed. Scientists are developing ways to confirm the habitability of these worlds and search for biosignatures, or signs of life.
The key to this effort is to understand how biology interacts with the atmosphere, geology, oceans, and interior of a planet, and how these interactions are affected by the host star. The “system science” approach, which Gelino is leading with NExSS, will help scientists better understand how to look for life on exoplanets.