Citation by Scott Murchie
Janice Bishop has been a planetary science visionary who, based on her expertise in clay, iron sulfate, and iron oxyhydroxide minerals, foresaw a range of potential science discoveries at Mars and asteroids, particularly Ceres. In preparation for interpreting spaceflight measurements of these worlds, she completed an extensive body of laboratory research needed to interpret such results. Over her career, Janice anticipated a range of potential secondary mineral assemblages on Mars, completed foundational work on terrestrial and laboratory analogs needed to understand the formation environments of these minerals, and proceeded with involvement in flight missions to Mars to connect the geology of that planet to Earth and laboratory analogs. Her merging of terrestrial, laboratory, and flight data has led to key insights about Mars, most notably the environment and chemistry involved in the relatively brief period of Martian history during which extensive water-rock interactions occurred in a subaerial environment.
Response by Janice L. Bishop
It is a tremendous honor and privilege to receive the Arthur L. Day Medal, and I am exceedingly grateful and humbled to join such an esteemed group. My sincere thanks go out to my colleagues Joe Michalski, Scott Murchie, Cathy Weitz, Bethany Ehlmann, Megan Elwood Madden, Lindsay McHenry, Ania Szynkiewicz, and Brenda Bowen for their efforts in nominating me and for their scientific collaborations and friendship. I also greatly appreciate the kind citation Scott provided. Throughout my career I have benefited from numerous engaging discussions with colleagues who have inspired and challenged me and I accept this prestigious award on behalf of my mentors, collaborators, postdocs, and students.
I am fortunate to have experienced numerous exceptional, motivating, and compassionate mentors who shaped my career and enabled valuable opportunities for me, for which I am deeply grateful. Astronomy and chemistry caught my fancy early in life and I began my studies at Stanford University as a chemistry major guided by Paul Wender, then became intrigued about geology through animated descriptions of adventures in the field by Allan Cox (Day Medal, 1975). Mike Hochella was my first research mentor in geology, followed by George Parks who sparked my interest in geochemistry and mineralogy that led to an MS degree in Earth Science. Ron Lyon opened the world of terrestrial remote sensing and introduced me to colleagues at NASA Ames, including Sherwood Chang, Leila Coyne, and Chris McKay. Chris arranged for me to study sediments from Antarctica with colleagues Peter Englert, Bob Wharton, and Christian Koeberl. This project took me to Christian’s lab in Vienna for six months during 1989 to learn about geochemistry. Even today, several papers and students later, Peter, Christian, and I are still investigating sediments from the Antarctic Dry Valleys.
While earning a PhD in Chemistry at Brown University, Sherwood sponsored me for a NASA Fellowship that provided the flexibility to study both chemistry and planetary science for my doctoral work focused on the spectroscopic properties of clay minerals and Mars analog materials. As my chemistry advisor, John Edwards shared a passion for minerals and Mars, while my geology advisor Carlé Pieters broadened my background in planetary science, visible-infrared reflectance spectroscopy, and remote sensing. Carlé had a knack for enticing, challenging, and encouraging each of us students to extend our work beyond what we thought we could achieve. Additional Brown colleagues Scott Murchie and Jack Mustard invited me to join investigations of Mars using ISM orbital spectral imaging data in 1990 that led to many further collaborations. Roger Burns at MIT contributed constructive conversations on the bonding and character of a wide range of iron oxide/hydroxide minerals and phyllosilicate-ferrihydrite-sulfate assemblages as analogs for Mars and I relished trips up to his lab to conduct Mössbauer spectroscopy and discuss Mars surface chemistry. His insights on aqueous alteration of minerals were hugely influential to my research directions and his hunches regarding martian sulfates were later borne out by future rovers. Roger also introduced me to Darby Dyar and Enver Murad who became invaluable collaborators on Mössbauer spectroscopy, mineralogy, and Mars geochemistry projects.
As graduation came into sight at Brown, Jim Head connected me to Gerhard Neukum, Gabriele Arnold, and Ralf Jaumann at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin and I pursued a postdoc at the DLR thanks to support from the Humboldt Foundation. Later, the Humboldt Foundation sponsored periodic return visits to Berlin to continue remote sensing studies of Mars and enabled new collaborations in more recent decades with Daniela Tirsch at the DLR and Christoph Gross at the Free University of Berlin. This was followed by an International Fellow Award from the Helmholtz Foundation for a sabbatical year with my Berlin colleagues. Returning to the US in 1997, Sherwood Chang and Rocco Mancinelli kindly sponsored me for an NRC Fellowship back at NASA Ames. I joined the SETI Institute in 1999 and have enjoyed collaborations with fabulous colleagues at the SETI Institute, NASA Ames, and around the world since then. Through the SETI Institute I have been fortunate to mentor countless undergrads and several grad students and postdocs, and I endeavor to share my mentors’ examples of perception, perseverance and passion for scientific excellence with the next generation of scientists. I am grateful to the SETI Institute for providing a supportive administration and stimulating work environment over the past 25 years.
My fascination with the chemistry and structure of minerals has led to understanding their spectral properties and facilitated characterization of minerals on Mars, the Moon, and asteroids. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to investigate aqueous alteration on Mars through analyzing mineral vibrations in orbital spectra compared to analyses of minerals in lab and field settings. Scott Murchie led the incredibly successful CRISM imaging spectrometer that opened up numerous captivating studies of martian mineralogy for me. Ray Arvidson led the way in integrating CRISM observations with surface missions. Coordinating these orbital and surface investigations at Mars with field studies of volcanic islands, hydrothermal outcrops, and Antarctic sediments, as well as lab studies probing the minutiae of minerals continues to be a fascinating and rewarding journey.
Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support throughout my career that has enabled me to pursue my dream of studying the planets. I grew up in Livermore where scientists and engineers outnumbered other professions, and I spent infinite hours investigating the outdoors with my younger brother Bob. I am forever grateful to my mother Dorothy Bishop who taught me it is possible to excel at being a parent, scientist, and mentor to countless students, and my father Stan Bishop who showed me the stars at night as a child and demonstrated the creative side of engineering. My husband Lukas Gründler literally swept me off my feet while waltzing in Vienna over 30 years ago and is a partner in most of my life activities, including raising our children Markus and Katie, who bring joy and enrichment to our lives.