James B. Garvin, a renowned scientist, held the esteemed position of NASA's Chief Scientist from October 2004 to September 2005, and his groundbreaking work in NASA's Mars exploration programs has left a lasting impact.
Garvin's professional journey began at the Goddard Space Flight Center in 1984, where he initially served as a staff scientist, developing innovative remote sensing instrumentation, and has remained based there or at the nearby NASA headquarters in Washington D.C. ever since.
Throughout his illustrious career, Garvin has traversed a wide range of disciplines, including Earth system science, Mars Exploration, lunar exploration, Venus, asteroids, and the outer planets. His extensive experience has led to his involvement as a co-investigator on numerous NASA missions, such as the Mars Observer, Mars Global Surveyor, NEAR-Shoemaker, OSIRIS-REx, Mars Curiosity Rover, Canada's Radarsat, and ESA's Envisat.
As the principal investigator of the DAVINCI+ mission (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging),Garvin's latest endeavor was selected as one of NASA's next Discovery Program missions in 2021, with a planned launch window between 2028 and 2030.
