Carolyn M. Ernst

Dr. Carolyn Ernst is a research scientist in the Planetary Exploration group at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. She received her Sc.B. in Physics and Sc.M. and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from Brown University. She served as Deputy Instrument Scientist for the Mercury Laser Altimeter and as an associate of the Mercury Dual Imaging System team for the MESSENGER mission, and is currently Vice-Chair of NASA's Mercury Exploration Assessment Group. She is a Co-Investigator on Dragonfly, and MMX a Participating Scientist on Hayabusa2, Investigation Scientist for the EIS instrument on Europa Clipper, and Instrument Scientist for the DRACO instrument on DART. She has been a Participating Scientist on Cassini and a member of the New Horizons, OSIRIS-REx, and Deep Impact science teams. Her research focuses on impact cratering and the surface evolution of planets, satellites, and small bodies through the use of laboratory experiments, spacecraft data, and numerical models.