Delia L. Santiago-Materese, Ph.D.
Program Scientist
Delia L. Santiago-Materese is a Program Scientist in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters. She leads the Solar System Workings (SSW) program, which supports research of a wide range of processes across our Solar System. She also leads the Dual Anonymous Peer Review (DAPR) efforts for the Planetary Science Division. Additionally, Delia serves as the Deputy Program Scientist for the Dragonfly mission to Titan.
Previously, Delia conducted planetary science research within the Planetary Science Branch of the Space Science & Astrobiology Division at NASA Ames Research Center, including supporting analog research. She earned her Ph.D. as part of the Pathways Program, a work-study program at NASA, where she studied the formation of water ice clouds under Martian conditions both in the lab and using Mars climate models. Prior to joining the Pathways Program, Delia was a Partnerships Specialist at the NASA Lunar Science Institute (now the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute), where she developed International partnerships for the Institute and also developed the Institute’s social media presence and supported the use of collaborative technologies. She served as the NASA CoLab Program Coordinator, where she developed relationships between NASA and the Silicon Valley, and trained groups within NASA to use then-burgeoning online technologies. Prior to these roles, Delia was an Experiment Support Scientist, where she supported Space Shuttle experiments and the development of payloads for the International Space Station.
Delia earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and her Master’s and doctoral degrees in Earth & Planetary Science at the University of California at Santa Cruz. She enjoys cooking, hiking, and spending time with her family.
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