Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer

Dr. Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer is a science executive at NASA Headquarters, where she leads the Earth Ventures Orbital program, a $100+ million portfolio of innovative Earth-observing missions advancing NASA priorities and strengthening the U.S. space economy strategy. She provides executive leadership in science strategy, mission formulation, and strategic partnerships across government, academia, industry, and international organizations. Building on recent cross-divisional work, she architected a science governance structure enabling coordinated multi-mission integration across NASA’s Earth Science Division. 

In her role as Lead Program Scientist, she directs NASA’s Ocean Physics Program, providing scientific and strategic direction for major satellite missions including SWOT, the Sentinel-6 series, SMAP, and CRISTAL, as well as suborbital missions. She develops solicitations, selects and manages competitive science teams, and oversees a research portfolio with an annual budget in the tens of millions of dollars. She also represents NASA in high-level national and international forums, including White House interagency activities, the United Nations, CEOS, and other global partnerships. 

An active scientist in satellite remote sensing, ocean physics, and Earth system science, Dr. Vinogradova Shiffer has authored more than 100 scientific publications and technical contributions, including consensus assessments. Prior to joining NASA Headquarters, she built a cross-sector career spanning academia (MIT and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), private industry as a scientist, and the non-profit sector as founder and director of a research organization advancing satellite-enabled Earth system science. She began her career as a university lecturer in data science, applied mathematics, and machine learning, and contributed to oceanographic field campaigns aboard U.S. Navy research vessels. She holds a Ph.D. in Ocean Physics and an M.S. in Applied Mathematics.