This year, the Desert Research Institute (DRI) is honored to present the Nevada Medal to Dr. Steven Squyres who is best known for his work as the Principal Investigator for the Mars Explorations Rover Project (MER) and his study of the history and distribution of water on Mars.

He has also been a co-investigator on the 2003 Mars Express and 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and a member of the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer Flight Investigation Team for the Mars Odyssey Mission. In addition to his studies on Mars, he has also worked with NASA on numerous other space exploration projects, including the Voyager Mission to Jupiter and Saturn, the Magellan Mission to Venus, the Cassini Mission to Saturn and the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission.

Dr. Squyres’ exciting research on our solar system has earned him an extraordinary reputation in the field of planetary sciences. He is currently the Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University, and he has won various respected awards including the 2004 Carl Sagan Memorial Award and the 2009 Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Communication in Planetary Science. He has also been recognized by “ABC News,” “The Colbert Report” and Wired magazine. In 2005, Dr. Squyres published “Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet,” which has since been adapted into the Disney film, “Roving Mars.”