Bruce Banerdt is a planetary geophysicist who has been working at Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1977. He earned a B.S. in physics (1975) and a Ph.D. in geophysics (1983) at the University of Southern California, and spent 2 years in between studying at Pennsylvania State University. He has been selected for the science team of a number of planetary missions, including Mars Observer and Mars Global Surveyor (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, MOLA), Magellan (Radar Science Team), and Rosetta (SESAME Acoustic Sounder), and was principal investigator for the U.S. instruments on the NetLander mission to Mars, which was unfortunately cancelled before launch. He is currently the project scientist for the Mars Exploration Rovers. He has served on several National Academy of Sciences panels on space science, and is currently a member of the Committee for Planetary Exploration (COMPLEX) and the National Research Council panel advising NASA on Scientific Priorities for the Exploration of the Moon. Banerdt's research interests are the geologic history of Mars and the geophysical investigation of the interiors of the terrestrial planets using analyses of gravity, magnetic, topography, and seismic data.