Lisa Pratt is a biogeochemist and astrobiologist who previously served as the 7th Planetary Protection Officer for NASA from 2018 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. Her academic work as a student, professor, and researcher on organisms and their respective environments prepared her for the position, in which she is responsible for protecting the Earth and other planets in the solar system from traveling microbes. Originally, Pratt did not see a place for herself in science, but with encouragement from her academic mentors and family members along the way, she has been able to accomplish much work as a scientist. She is currently a Provost Professor Emeritus of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences for Indiana University Bloomington Early life and education Lisa Pratt was born and raised in Rochester, Minnesota. At her high school in Minnesota, Pratt took a lot of science courses up until her senior year. However, when she began college, she was determined not to pursue a degree in science because she felt women were not welcome in the field. Her father had been a surgeon at the Mayo Clinic, and she noted that none of his peers were female-identifying. Pratt first began her undergraduate education at Rollins College studying Spanish. However, she later transferred to University of North Carolina, where she began studying botany. Pratt received her Bachelor's of Arts in botany from the University of North Carolina in 1972. In 1974 she received her Masters of Science from the University of Illinois in Botany. Pratt later entered the field of geology by earning her Masters of Science from the University of North Carolina in 1978 and her Doctorate Degree from Princeton University in 1982. Academic career After receiving her PhD in 1982, Pratt held a post-doctoral fellowship for two years at the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver and stayed on for an additional five years as a Research Geologist in the U.S.G.S. Branch of Petroleum Geology before leaving Colorado for a junior professorship in biogeochemistry at Indiana University in 1987 to help train young scientists for careers in the petroleum exploration and extraction industry. She currently serves as a Provost Professor Emeritus of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences for Indiana University Bloomington where she has been a faculty member since 1987. Since joining Indiana University's faculty, Pratt has focused her research on how extreme environments effect the microorganisms within them. Projects When Pratt was a doctoral student,