Cassandra Runyon

Dr. Cassandra Runyon graduated from the University of Hawai’i in 1988 with her Ph.D. in Geology and Geophysics. Following graduation, she was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at NASA Johnson Space Center. Her research focused on understanding the nature and origin of volcanic features on the terrestrial planets. As a Faculty Fellow working with her colleagues at NASA Johnson Space Center, Cass helped to explore and define the initial field requirements for future human-robotic missions to the Moon and Mars. Later, after joining the College of Charleston faculty, her research used hyperspectral and multispectral data and imagery to model stressed terrestrial environments including coastal wetlands, precision farming and disturbed ground to assess urban/suburban change to South Carolina’s coastal wetlands through field reconnaissance, remote sensing, and GIS. Dr. Runyon was the public engagement lead for the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) spectrometer that flew onboard Chandrayaan-1, which discovered water on the Moon! She is currently a Professor of Geology at the College of Charleston, Director of the NASA South Carolina Space Grant Consortium and South Carolina NASA EPSCoR program, Vice Chair of the National Council of Space Grant Directors and the education/public engagement lead for the Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS), a NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) team. Her passion is helping to provide access to STEM for all audiences, including those with visible and invisible disabilities.