Biography

James V. Taranik
President
Desert Research Institute
Arthur Brant Chair of Geology and Geophysics

Dr. Taranik received a B.S. in geology from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in geology from Colorado School of Mines. He has been a principal investigator on the U. S. Landsat program, the French SPOT program and the Japanese FUYO-1 program. He is currently the Program Director of the University and Community College System of Nevada's NASA Space Grant Program. He serves as Chairman of International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Working Group VII/4 Geologic and Mineral Resources. He was a member on the NASA Space Applications Advisory Committee and chaired the Subcommittee on Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere and Lithosphere for SAAC. In 1994 he served as Headquarters Designee on the Pre-ship and Pre-launch NASA Review Board for the SIR-C/X-SAR missions (STS-59G and STS-68), and in 1995 he served on the NASA Federal Laboratory Review Task Force. He was a member of the Civil Operational Remote Sensing Satellite Advisory Committee for the Secretary of Commerce and was chairman of the working group on Commercialization of the Land and Weather Satellites. Dr. Taranik is a fellow of the Geological Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Explorers Club, and the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. He has been elected to the International Academy for Astronautics. Dr. Taranik is a member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the American Geophysical Union, American Institute of Professional Geologists and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He is a Member of the Society of Mining Engineers and the Society of Economic Geologists. Dr. Taranik and his wife, Colleen, live in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada. Their son, Dan, is a geophysicist and is President of Exploration Mapping Services in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their daughter, Debra, directs the Even Start program in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Dr. Taranik's comments on working in academia

Return to Geoscience Profiles