David R. Thompson

David Ray Thompson received the Ph.D. degree from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, in 2008. He is a Principal Research Technologist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. He is a Technical Group Lead in the JPL Imaging Spectroscopy Group, an Instrument Scientist for NASA's EMIT Mission and Lunar Trailblazer missions, and an Investigation Scientist for NASA's Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) project. His research uses spectroscopic data to characterize Earth and other planetary bodies. Dr. Thompson was the recipient of the NASA Early Career Achievement Medal, the Lew Allen Award for Excellence, and the NASA Software of the Year Award.