JoBea Way Holt (born 1954) is an American

planetary scientist Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their ...

who has worked for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

. Holt studied the

carbon cycle The carbon cycle is a part of the biogeochemical cycle where carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycl ...

Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is composed of a layer of gas mixture that surrounds the Earth's planetary surface (both lands and oceans), known collectively as air, with variable quantities of suspended aerosols and particulates (which create weathe ...

. She is also a member of the Climate Project, and is the author of several books and research papers.

Biography

Holt was born in

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located in Northeast Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River (Ohio), Black River about west of Cleveland. It is the List of cities in Ohio, ninth-most populous city in O ...

. Holt states that she was inspired to get into science by watching the 1969

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

Moon landing. She attended

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

for her undergrad degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and did her master's and Ph.D. at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

(Caltech) in planetary sciences. At Caltech, she worked with Tom Jukes studying decontamination procedures used with the Viking spacecraft. Holt began working at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...

in 1976. When the second space shuttle flight carrying the first shuttle-borne imaging radar (SIR) went up, Holt became interested in how to study the Earth from space. Her discoveries about carbon flux in the atmosphere around boreal forests contributed to a greater understanding of the carbon cycle. She was an elected member of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS) Administrative Committee (AdCom) from 1990 through 1995, and was one of the first women involved in that capacity. Holt is one of the creators of KidSat (later named Sally Ride EarthKAM) in 1995. She first became involved in the project in 1993. Holt has been published in ''IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing'', ''

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

'', ''

BioScience ''BioScience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the ''AIBS Bulletin'' (1951–1 ...

'', the ''International Journal of Remote Sensing'', the ''

Journal of Geophysical Research The ''Journal of Geophysical Research'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. It is the flagship journal of the American Geophysical Union. It contains original research on the physical, chemical, and biological processes that contribute to the u ...

'', and the ''Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing''. She also does research for NASA.

Selected bibliography

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References

Citations

Sources

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External links

Science Symposium on Climate Change
(Hunt appears 1:21:30 in) {{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, JoBea 1954 births People from Lorain, Ohio American women scientists Jet Propulsion Laboratory faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni California Institute of Technology alumni NASA people Living people 21st-century American women