Ken Nealson
Chief Scientist | Co-Founder

Ken is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association of Advanced Science; Professor Emeritus of Earth Sciences at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of Wisconsin, Caltech and University of Southern California. He has over 45 years’ experience in biogeochemistry, microbial physiology, environmental microbiology and metagenomics.

Ken is a Postdoctoral Fellow of Harvard University, and has held professorial roles with Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of Wisconsin, Caltech and the University of Southern California. Ken has held fellowship positions with the American Academy of Microbiology, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association of Advanced Science. He received the NASA Special Leadership Award in 2003 and has been a member of the NASA Mars Exploration Science Working Group since 1998. He has also held Advisory Board positions with the Japanese Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, the Max Planck Institute of Marine Microbiology and the J. Craig Vener Institute.