Catharine Conley

Education

Conley received her bachelor's from MIT, a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from Cornell University in 1994, and obtained a postdoctoral fellow position at The Scripps Research Institute studying proteins involved in muscle contraction. Conley conducted some of her research using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

NASA career

In 1999 Conley became a research scientist with the NASA Ames Research Center. Her research focuses on the evolution of motility, particularly animal muscle. One of her experiments was on board during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The experiment, the fourteenth Biological Research In Canisters (BRIC-14), survived re-entry and the nematode cultures were still alive. Some scientific data was recovered.

In 2006, Conley was appointed as NASA's Planetary Protection Officer (see Planetary protection), replacing John Rummel. A NASA re-organization opened the job for competition in 2017, and Conley was replaced by Dr. Lisa Pratt in February 2018.

During her time at NASA, Conley worked with protecting life on Mars, focusing on keeping Earth's bacteria off Mars when doing research. This aligns with The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which aims to keep contamination from Earth to other planets in check. Conley's biggest concern of contamination was transferring lichen from Earth to Mars. Both planets have similar requirements which allows lichen to grow. To address these concerns, NASA used the Curisosity rover, which surveys Mars' environment to see if it can support microbial life. The rover itself could contaminate Mars with microbes from Earth. To combat this issue, the landers used in missions are sterilized in an oven and kept in a bioshield until they reach Mars.