Chief Scientist (Acting), International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory
Dr. Michael Roberts is the Deputy Chief Scientist of the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory where he works to imagine and enable science in space for life on Earth utilizing the ISS National Lab. Prior to joining the ISS National Lab in 2013, Michael worked for 13 years as a microbial ecologist, molecular biologist, group lead, and principal investigator in the NASA Advanced Life Support program at the Kennedy Space Center and conducted ground-based and flight research focused on bacterial recombination, plant-microbe interactions, and forward osmosis membrane technology for water recovery in microgravity. He has a B.A. from Maryville College, a Ph.D. in microbiology from Wesleyan University, and was a post-doctoral researcher in the Center for Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University and the RIKEN Institute in Wako-shi, Japan.