Kevin R. Grazier

Dr. Kevin Grazier holds the duel titles of Investigation Scientist and Science Planning Engineer for the Cassini/Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan.at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA.  He earned B.S. degrees in computer science and geology from PurdueUniversity, and a B.S. in physics from OaklandUniversity.  He earned his M.S. in physics from Purdue, and then went to UCLA for his doctoral research in planetary physics, performing long-term large-scale computer simulations of early Solar System evolution.  While in graduate school, he worked at the RAND Corporation, processing Viking imagery in support of the Mars Observer Mission.  At JPL he has written mission planning and analysis software that won numerous JPL- and NASA-wide awards.  Dr. Grazier still continues research involving computer simulations of Solar System dynamics, evolution, and chaos.  

In addition to his JPL duties, Dr. Grazier is active in teaching the public about science and space.  He teaches classes in planetary science, cosmology, he search for extraterrestrial life and the “science of science fiction” at UCLA and Santa MonicaCollege.  He has served on several NASA educational product review panels .  Dr. Grazier has appeared in numerous documentaries, co-hosted the premiere episode of Discovery Channel's "Science Live! Kids' Edition", and also co-anchored CNN’s all-day coverage of Cassini’s Saturn Orbit Insertion. 

Dr. Grazier is also currently the Science Advisor for the animated educational TV series The Zula Patrol,and for the Sci-Fi Channel series Eureka as well as the Peabody Award-winning Battlestar Galactica.  He recently served as contributing author and editor for the books The Science of Dune and the Science of Michael Crichton, and co-authored the upcoming The Science of Battlestar Galactica.  He is a contributing author to the Discover Magazine online column Codex Futurius.