Azita Valinia is the Associate Director for Research and Development at the Sciences and Exploration Directorate at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. In this capacity, she manages the Directorate’s Research and Development program and leads the strategic planning of future space and Earth science missions. The Sciences and Exploration Directorate at NASA Goddard is one of the largest scientific organizations in the world with over 2400 civil servants and contractors dedicated to the highest quality space-based research in the areas of Earth sciences, Solar Physics, Planetary Sciences, and Astrophysics. Azita holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin.