Dr. Sian Proctor

Dr. Sian Proctor is a geoscientist and astronaut. Since 1999, she has been a full-time professor teaching geology, sustainability, and planetary science at South Mountain Community College (SMCC) in Phoenix, Arizona. She has served as the Faculty Developer at SMCC and the Open Educations Resource Coordinator for the Maricopa Community Colleges. 

She is a continuing NASA Solar System Ambassador and has served on the Explore Mars Board of Directors, JustSpace Alliance Advisory Board, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Advisory Board, and the National Science Teaching Association’s Aerospace Advisory Board. In 2019, she was the science communication outreach officer on the ship JOIDES Resolution with Expedition 383 and spent 2-months at sea with researchers investigating climate change. She was a 2017 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Teacher at Sea, a 2016 Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassador (ACEAP), and a 2014 PolarTREC Teacher investigating climate change in Barrow, Alaska. She is a Major in the Civil Air Patrol and serves as a member of the Arizona Wing Aerospace Education Office.

Dr. Proctor has a B.S. in Environmental Science, an M.S. in Geology, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction: Science Education. She did her 2019-20 sabbatical at Arizona State University’s Center for Education Through Exploration creating virtual field trips. She did her 2012-13 sabbatical at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Emergency Management Institute developing their science of disasters curriculum.

She believes that when we solve for space, we also solve issues on Earth. She was the mission pilot for SpaceX Inspiration4, the first all-civilian orbital mission. She is the first African American woman to pilot a spacecraft and the first African American commercial astronaut. She is also one of The Explorer’s Club 50: Fifty People Changing the World.