Dr. Louise M. Prockter
Planetary Science Division Director, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Dr. Louise Prockter is the Planetary Science Division Director (Science Mission Directorate) at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC.
Dr. Prockter has almost three decades of scientific, technical, management, and programmatic experience, primarily at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL). Prior to starting her tenure at NASA Headquarters in 2025, she was the Chief Scientist for APL’s Space Exploration Sector. She previously led APL’s Planetary Exploration Group and Space Science Instrumentation Branch.
Dr. Prockter also served as the Director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) from 2016 and 2020. In this role she was responsible for the scientific direction and smooth operation of the institute, which provides services to NASA’s Planetary Science Division, the planetary science community, and the public.
As a planetary scientist, Dr. Prockter is an internationally recognized expert in the geomorphology and structural geology of icy satellites (specifically Europa, Ganymede, and Triton), with additional expertise in Mercury and small bodies. She has contributed to the advancement of several planetary science missions throughout her career, including Galileo, NEAR, MESSENGER, and Europa Clipper. She was also the Principal Investigator of the Trident mission concept to Neptune’s moon Triton. She has served on numerous National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and NASA advisory panels, including as a member of the Satellites panel for the NASEM 2013 “Vision and Voyages” Planetary Science Decadal Survey, as the Co-Chair of that Decadal Survey’s mid-term review in 2018, and as a member of the NASA Planetary Science Advisory Committee.
Dr. Prockter is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, a recipient of the American Astronomical Society’s Division of Planetary Sciences Harold Masursky Award for Meritorious Service to Planetary Science, and she was the Harold Masursky keynote lecturer at the 2024 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
Dr. Prockter earned her B.Sc. in Geophysics from Lancaster University in the U.K., and her Ph.D. in Planetary Geology from Brown University.