I got my start in the space program working on Apollo 11 and 12 while I was a graduate student. I am a geologist, and my job was to describe the samples which were returned. At the end of the Apollo program, I worked in exploring the Earth for the next 20 years. I was an exploration geologist, first in the mining industry, then in the oil industry. During this period, I developed an interest in management because I became more interested in getting all of the pieces to fit together correctly rather than in doing one of the pieces myself. In 1999 I returned to NASA as a manager in the Mars Exploration Program.
