Kathleen Craft

Dr. Kathleen Craft’s work focuses on helping develop NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, which will investigate the moon’s geology, activity, and habitability. She collaborates with the instrument and project teams to develop the science measurement requirements for the mission and assists with science-related project activities. She is also part of the study team for a landed mission on Europa and is the principal investigator for the development of a communication capability for a subsurface Europa cryobot. Dr. Craft’s research interests include modeling fluid intrusions and fracture mechanics on ocean worlds and Ceres and hydrothermal systems on Mars, as well as biosignatures and determining habitability in different environments. Currently, she is working to develop a microfluidics sample preparation device to purify, in situ, amino acids, DNA and RNA, and other biosignatures and protect them from salts and other inhibitors for follow-on detections and characterizations. Dr. Craft pursues fieldwork to validate her models and provide insight into the physics of geological and biological processes on Earth and those that are likely occurring on other worlds.