Dr. Sierra (Weigman) Brown is a former student of the State University of New York at Fredonia who has since gone on to become a Staff Scientist and Research Software Engineer at Million Concepts, LLC. She earned her B.S. in Geophysics and Geochemistry from SUNY Fredonia in 2016, followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences from Brown University in 2018 and 2022 respectively.
During her graduate studies, Dr. Brown focused on remote sensing and geochemical modeling of the Martian surface. Her work has been integral to several NASA missions, including Curiosity, Perseverance, and VIPER. Dr. Brown is known for her expertise as the lead developer of the Planetary Data Reader tool, which allows easy access to NASA data with a single command. Additionally, she has made significant contributions to various other top-tier planetary science software libraries.
As an enrolled member of the Shinnecock Nation, Dr. Brown incorporates the practice of “Two-Eyed Seeing” into her work to offer a unique perspective that integrates indigenous and western knowledge systems. Recently, she has been more actively integrating her native heritage into her work and is currently leading a NASA Transform to Open Science Training grant project called “Knowing the Sky: Building Open Science Skills through Native Knowledge Practices.”
Dr. Brown’s efforts have not gone unnoticed as she was honored with the NASA Space Tech Catalyst Prize for her work supporting underrepresented groups in space technology development
