Rosaly R. Lopes, 2009 Women of Discovery Air & Space Award

"Success is not about where you are up on the ladder, but how far you have climbed." — Rosaly R. Lopes

Volcanologist and planetary scientist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Born: 1957-01-08

Hometown: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Education: B. Sc. in Astronomy, Ph.D. in Planetary Geology

Achievements

Discoveries: 71 new active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io – it landed me in the Guinness Book of World records for 2006.

Expeditions: Mount Etna, Kilauea, Vesuvius, Santorini, Montserrat, and many other volcanoes around the world.

Biography

Volcanologist Dr. Rosaly Lopes is a Principal Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Having studied volcanoes on Earth, Mars, Jupiter's moon Io and Saturn's moon Titan, she is an expert on volcanism on Earth and the planets.  Rosaly was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she lived near the famous Ipanema beach. 

At age 18, she left for London, England, to study astronomy at the University of London, where she graduated with honors in 1978. She specialized in planetary geology and volcanology and completed her Ph. D. in Planetary Science in 1986 with a thesis on comparing volcanic processes on Earth and Mars.  

Rosaly’s major research interests are in planetary and terrestrial surface processes with an emphasis on volcanology. While she got her Ph.D. she traveled extensively to active volcanoes, particularly Mount Etna in Sicily, and became a member of the U.K.'s Volcanic Eruption Surveillance Team. In 2002, Rosaly became Investigation Scientist on the Cassini RADAR Team. 

She plans science observations of Saturn and its moons and rings, and Co-Chairs the Cassini Satellites Orbiter Science Team. Her main interest on Cassini is on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The Synthetic Aperture (SAR) data from the RADAR instrument show that Titan has volcanic features, but not like silicate volcanism on the Earth or Io. 


Rosaly was included in the 2006 Guiness Book of World records for discovering the greatest number of active volcanoes (71 on Io). She has published four books, including "The Volcano Adventure Guide", the first travel guidebook to volcanoes. In 2005, she received the Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society, in recognition for her work communicating science to the public. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Geographical Society, and the Explorers Club.

Fun Facts

Favorite Item to have in the field: camera, hard hat for protection from small volcanic bombs, and lots of water.

Heroes: Carl Sagan, for bringing the beauty of science to the public.