Rebecca M. E. Williams

Professional History

Dr. Williams’ has been involved with multiple Mars missions in research, operational, and advisory roles. Following graduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis, she worked at Malin Space Science Systems as part of the targeting team for the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) from 2001 to 2004 and personally planned several thousand high resolution images. She was selected as a Participating Scientist for the CTX and THEMIS cameras, and with the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Selected in 2013 as one of two US representatives on the European Space Agency ExoMars rover Landing Site Selection Working Group (LSSWG), she now participates in the ExoMars Rover Science Operations Working Group. In 2022, she became Deputy Principal Investigator (DPI) for the Mastcam and MARDI cameras on the Curiosity rover, and joined the SHERLOC science team on the Perseverance rover. Recently, Dr. Williams served for three years as a Geology Representative on NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG), and during that time she revised the goals document that articulates the priorities of the Mars community for research and exploration activities.