Tara Samuels, PhD

Affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center
Email: tara.samuels@nasa.gov

Professional Background

Dr. Tara Samuels serves as the Center’s Chief Knowledge Officer, responsible for overseeing the planning and execution of the Center’s knowledge management activities.  She is also the acting Chief of the Flight Systems Implementation Branch in the Space Biosciences Division, responsible for setting strategic direction of the organization, payload and mission concept development, staff supervision, contract management, and space and workforce planning.

She began her career at NASA in 2015, supporting the Airworthiness and Flight Safety Review Board (AFSRB) and the Flight Readiness Review Board (FRRB) in the Aeronautics Projects Office. She then served as Chief Safety Officer for spaceflight, ISS payload, and airborne projects in the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate. She went on to serve as the acting Strategy and Operations Officer in the newly established Spaceflight Division in the Engineering Directorate, leading business strategy and establishing operational cadence for the organization.  She came to the Flight Systems Implementation Branch in 2020 where she served as a Systems Engineer on a variety of ISS payload missions.

In her spare time, she is a NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador and a Captain in the Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, where she has served as a Mission Transport Pilot.

She holds an MS in Aerospace Engineering and an MBA from San Jose State University and received her Ph.D. from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.