Miriam Baltuck, Director
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
and NASA Operations
CSIRO Industrial Physics
As Director, Canberra Deep
Space Communication Complex, Dr. Miriam Baltuck is responsible
for operations of the Australian facility used to track and communicate
with all of NASA's solar system exploration missions.
Miriam graduated in1976 from
the University of Michigan (BS, High Honors). In 1982 she received
her doctoral degree from the University of California San Diego's
Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Graduate work included
geologic field mapping, blue water oceanographic research cruises,
laboratory geochemical analyses, and a year at the University
of Paris as a visiting assistant professor. Following post-doctoral
studies with the Deep Sea Drilling Project, she became a Professor
of Geology at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In 1986 Miriam joined the U.S.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to manage
NASA's Solid Earth and Natural Hazards Branch. While in this
assignment she secured resources for 11 new flight projects including
the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), considered the most
universally useful Shuttle flight in NASA's history. She received
the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for her work on SRTM.
Under her direction NASA Solid Earth and Natural Hazards developed
more international cooperative partnerships than any other NASA
program.
In 1994 Dr. Baltuck was seconded
to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to
chair twenty-five federal agencies in the development of a National
Earthquake Loss Reduction Strategy, which was forwarded for implementation
to the US Federal Emergency Management Agency in 1995.
Miriam moved to Canberra in
mid-1997 as the NASA Attaché at the US Embassy, Canberra.
Her duties included pursuit of cooperation in NASA Programs
with Australia, Oceania, and Southeast Asia. From September
2001 Dr. Baltuck pioneered a position in Australia as Science
and Technology Advisor at the US Embassy, Canberra, assisting
US organizations in developing cooperative activities in the
Asia Pacific region. In April 2005 Dr. Baltuck joined the Australian
National University as Director of University Advancement, a
position created to support the university's strategic development
through external alliances. In late 2005 the designation of
Minor Planet Baltuck (5701) must have reminded Dr. Baltuck of
her first love: six months later Miriam returned to space science
as Director of the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
and NASA Operations, CSIRO Industrial Physics.
Miriam is married to Mr. Robert
D. Lees and they have three sons aged 13, 15, and 17. The family
enjoys bicycling, reading, and swimming with the Moruya Junior
Surf Life Savers.
