Ellen Stofan stepped down as NASA’s chief scientist three years after she assumed the post, Space.com reported Thursday.
Jeff Foust writes NASA hinted at Stofan’s resignation in a Dec. 21 interview posted on social media site Tumblr saying she was “departing for new adventures.â€
Stofan said in a NASA interview that some of her achievements as the agency’s chief scientist include her involvement in the creation of a long-term strategy for the human exploration of Mars and efforts to encourage the agency to request demographic data in grant proposals in order to understand any biases associated with grant awards, Foust reports.
Stofan returned to NASA in August 2013 to serve as chief scientist and principal adviser to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on strategic planning efforts for the agency’s science programs.
She previously served as a vice president at Maryland-based Proxemy Research prior to her appointment at the space agency.
Stofan also served as honorary professor in the department of Earth sciences at University College London in England and chief scientist for the New Millennium Program at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
She was principal investigator on the proposed Titan Mare Explorer mission, co-investigator on the Mars Express Mission‘s MARSIS sounder and associate member of the Cassini Mission to Saturn Radar Team.
