2026 KISS Study Selection

The Keck Institute for Space Studies is excited to announce the selection of the following programs for the 2026 cohort. Congratulations to all of the teams listed below! We look forward to working with you and sharing more as these study programs develop.

Crucial Carbon Stores and Fluxes in Desert Environments

• Co-Leads:
  • Carmen Blackwood (JPL)
  • David Schimel (JPL)
  • Woody Fischer (Caltech)
  • Michael Allen (UC Riverside)

Bridging Exoplanet and Solar System Science

• Co-Leads:
  • Dimitri Mawet (Caltech/JPL)
  • Dave Stevenson (Caltech)
  • Scott Bolton (SwRI)

Pulsar-based Navigation and Time Keeping for Space Exploration

• Co-Leads:
  • Ahmed Soliman (JPL)
  • Walid Majid (JPL)
  • Vikram Ravi (Caltech)
  • Paul Ray (US Naval Research Laboratory)
  • Elizabeth Ferrara (UM - NASA Goddard)

Too Distant, Too Uncertain, Too Unforgiving: Assuring Autonomous Space Explorers We’ve Yet to Trust

• Co-Leads:
  • Alessandro Pinto (JPL)
  • Richard Murray (Caltech)
  • Kerianne Hobbs (The Aerospace Corporation)

A New Era of Space Science: Actionable and Affordable Mission Plans

• Co-Leads:
  • Sona Hosseini (JPL)
  • Andy Klesh (The Brinson Exploration Hub)
  • Mark McElroy (Benchmark Space Systems)

To learn more about the KISS Study Programs, visit the programs page.