John Moores

John Moores is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering at York University (with a graduate appointment in the Earth and Space Science and Physics and Astronomy Departments) and a Participating Scientist on the Mars Science Laboratory Mission, popularly known as the Curiosity Rover. After training on the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) in 2004, he contributed to the 2005 Huygens Mission to Saturn's Moon Titan and the 2008 Phoenix Mission to the Martian Arctic. He is a collaborator on two NSERC CREATE programs, the chair of the Canadian Space Agency's Planetary Exploration Consultation Committee and the chair of the Lassonde School of Engineering Awards Committee.

Moores is currently developing planetary simulation facilities at York University as part of the Planetary Volatile Laboratory and am supporting Surface Operations on the Mars Science Laboratory Rover. Previously, he has led experimental studies into interactions of volatiles with the martian surface and polar caps. He has also participated in the development of the Surface Stereo Imager for the Phoenix Lander and have been involved in several conceptual space mission design studies and analogue planetary missions. He has experience modeling scattering in the atmospheres of Earth and of Mars from the ultraviolet into the near infra-red and dynamical modeling of the Martian atmosphere. Recently, his work has led to the first direct detection of fog on Mars and to estimates of the methane content of the martian atmosphere from exogenous sources.

Photo and biographical information from John Moore's profile on the York University website.