Riley Duren

Riley Duren is a Research Scientist at the University of Arizona's Office of Research, Innovation and Impact and Chief Executive Officer for the non-profit organization Carbon Mapper. He also maintains a joint appointment as an Engineering Fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. From 2008-2019 he served as Chief Systems Engineer for the JPL's Earth Science & Technology Directorate with a portfolio including spaceborne instruments and missions, airborne studies, research and analysis, and applied science. For over three decades he has worked at the intersection of science and engineering to deliver observational systems, including seven successful satellite missions ranging from earth-mapping radars to telescopes in deep space. He served as Chief Engineer for the Kepler mission that conducted a major survey of earth-size planets around other stars. Since 2008 he has worked to extend the discipline of systems engineering to the challenge of societal decision-making for climate change responses with a focus on greenhouse gas mitigation. He is currently Principal Investigator on two NASA funded research projects focused on multi-scale methane and CO2 monitoring and has led previous projects on the same topic for multiple federal and state agencies.

Degrees

• BS, Electrical Engineering, Auburn University