# Katie Stack Morgan
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{{Short description|American planetary scientist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Kathryn Marie Morgan Stack
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| caption =
| birth_name = Kathryn M. Stack
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| education =
| alma_mater = California Institute of Technology
| thesis_title = Reconstructing Past Depositional and Diagenetic Processes through Quantitative Stratigraphic Analysis of the Martian Sedimentary Rock Record
| thesis_url = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1367376332
| thesis_year = 2015
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'''Kathryn Stack Morgan''' is scientist at the [National Aeronautics and Space Agency](/source/National_Aeronautics_and_Space_Agency) where she is known for her work in the exploration of planets such as [Mars](/source/Mars).
== Early life and education ==
Stack Morgan grew up in California, but spent summers in Maine.[{{Cite news |last=Acquisto |first=Alex |date=2017-03-30 |title=Scientists are naming locations on Mars after iconic Maine towns, landmarks |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sun-journal-scientists-are-naming-locati/162762886/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=Sun-Journal |pages=B2}}] She received her bachelor's degree from [Williams College](/source/Williams_College) in 2008, and went on to earn an M.Sc. (2011) and a Ph.D. (2015) from the [California Institute of Technology](/source/California_Institute_of_Technology).[{{Cite web |last=Morgan |first=Kathryn Stack |title=JPL Science: Kathryn Stack Morgan |url=https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/stackmorgan/ |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=science.jpl.nasa.gov |language=en}}]
== Career ==
Stack Morgan has been involved in Mars exploration efforts since 2014. Her work as a Research Scientist in the Geophysics and Planetary Geosciences Group at the [Jet Propulsion Laboratory](/source/Jet_Propulsion_Laboratory), [California Institute of Technology](/source/California_Institute_of_Technology), has been centered on expanding our knowledge of Mars' geology and planetary sciences. She has also been actively involved with the [Mars Science Laboratory](/source/Mars_Science_Laboratory) mission concurrently, serving as a Participating Scientist until 2022 after serving as a Collaborator in the Science Office from 2012 to 2015. She has also been involved in the development and implementation of the [Mars 2020 Rover Mission](/source/Mars_2020), an ambitious project that aims to solve the secrets of the Red Planet, as the Deputy Project Scientist since 2017.[{{Cite news |last=Overbye |first=Dennis |date=2021-02-19 |title=Perseverance's Pictures From Mars Show NASA Rover's New Home |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/science/mars-nasa-landing-pictures.html?searchResultPosition=1 |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}] Her work on the Mars project includes working with images from the ''[Curiosity](/source/Curiosity_(rover))'' rover[{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Emre |date=2017-09-24 |title=We're already walking on Mars |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/las-cruces-sun-news-were-already-walkin/162756816/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=Las Cruces Sun-News |pages=P0}}] and examining rocks to determine if they have potential biosignatures.[{{Cite news |last=Achenbach |first=Joel |date=2024-07-28 |title=Rover discovers rock with 'potential biosignature' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-rover-discovers/162763123/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |pages=A7}}] As part of her work, Stack Morgan also names geographical places on Mars.[{{Cite news |last=Brean |first=Henry |date=2014-11-30 |title=Nevada town a place-name --on Mars |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/reno-gazette-journal-nevada-town-a-place/162763039/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=Reno Gazette-Journal |pages=A10}}]
== Honors and awards ==
Stack Morgan was named to the [Forbes 30 Under 30](/source/Forbes_30_Under_30) list in 2013.[{{Cite web |title=Katie Stack |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/katie-stack/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=Forbes |language=en}}] She has received multiple [NASA Group Achievement Award](/source/NASA_Group_Achievement_Award) that were given to the Mars Science Laboratory spanning from 2013, 2015, and 2017. Her contributions to the Mars 2020 Project have been recognized with a series of Voyager Awards spanning from 2018 to 2021. In 2022 she received a [NASA Early Career Achievement Medal](/source/NASA_Early_Career_Achievement_Medal) (2022).[{{Cite web |title=Office of Research and Development (ORD) {{!}} Profile Kathryn M. Stack Morgan |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/site/research/stack/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=www.jpl.nasa.gov}}]{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([WP:NOTRS](/source/WP%3ANOTRS)).|date=January 2025}} She received the [Jet Propulsion Laboratory](/source/Jet_Propulsion_Laboratory)'s Edward Stone Award for Outstanding Research Publication in 2021[{{Cite web |title=The Edward Stone Award Recipients {{!}} Science and Technology |url=https://scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov/community/awards-achievements/edward-stone-award-outstanding-research-publication/edward-stone-award |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241221062613/https://scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov/community/awards-achievements/edward-stone-award-outstanding-research-publication/edward-stone-award |archive-date=2024-12-21 |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov |language=en |url-status=live }}] for her 2018 paper in the journal ''Sedimentology.''[{{Cite journal |last1=Stack |first1=Kathryn M. |last2=Grotzinger |first2=John P. |last3=Lamb |first3=Michael P. |last4=Gupta |first4=Sanjeev |last5=Rubin |first5=David M. |last6=Kah |first6=Linda C. |last7=Edgar |first7=Lauren A. |last8=Fey |first8=Deirdra M. |last9=Hurowitz |first9=Joel A. |last10=McBride |first10=Marie |last11=Rivera-Hernández |first11=Frances |last12=Sumner |first12=Dawn Y. |last13=Van Beek |first13=Jason K. |last14=Williams |first14=Rebecca M. E. |last15=Aileen Yingst |first15=Robin |date=2019 |title=Evidence for plunging river plume deposits in the Pahrump Hills member of the Murray formation, Gale crater, Mars |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sed.12558 |journal=Sedimentology |language=en |volume=66 |issue=5 |pages=1768–1802 |doi=10.1111/sed.12558 |issn=1365-3091|hdl=10044/1/71198 |hdl-access=free }}]
== Selected publications ==
* {{cite journal |last1=Stack |first1=K. M. |last2=Grotzinger |first2=J. P. |last3=Milliken |first3=R. E. |title=Bed thickness distributions on Mars: An orbital perspective |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |date=June 2013 |volume=118 |issue=6 |pages=1323–1349 |doi=10.1002/jgre.20092 |bibcode=2013JGRE..118.1323S |url=https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20131106-111157231 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stack |first1=K. M. |last2=Grotzinger |first2=J. P. |last3=Kah |first3=L. C. |last4=Schmidt |first4=M. E. |last5=Mangold |first5=N. |last6=Edgett |first6=K. S. |last7=Sumner |first7=D. Y. |last8=Siebach |first8=K. L. |last9=Nachon |first9=M. |last10=Lee |first10=R. |last11=Blaney |first11=D. L. |last12=Deflores |first12=L. P. |last13=Edgar |first13=L. A. |last14=Fairén |first14=A. G. |last15=Leshin |first15=L. A. |last16=Maurice |first16=S. |last17=Oehler |first17=D. Z. |last18=Rice |first18=M. S. |last19=Wiens |first19=R. C. |title=Diagenetic origin of nodules in the Sheepbed member, Yellowknife Bay formation, Gale crater, Mars: Diagenetic Nodules in Gale Crater |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |date=July 2014 |volume=119 |issue=7 |pages=1637–1664 |doi=10.1002/2014JE004617 |url=https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200828-150727637 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stack |first1=K.M. |last2=Milliken |first2=R.E. |title=Modeling near-infrared reflectance spectra of clay and sulfate mixtures and implications for Mars |journal=Icarus |date=April 2015 |volume=250 |pages=332–356 |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2014.12.009 |bibcode=2015Icar..250..332S }}
* {{cite book |doi=10.3133/sim3464 |chapter=Geologic map of Jezero crater and the Nili Planum region, Mars |title=Scientific Investigations Map |date=2020 |last1=Sun |first1=Vivian Z. |last2=Stack |first2=Kathryn M. }}