Dr. Elaine Petro is currently a post-doctoral researcher in the MIT Space Propulsion Laboratory, studying ion propulsion for small satellites. Her research interests include sustainable spacecraft propulsion, planetary exploration, and plasma science. Elaine received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, where she studied water-based spacecraft propulsion, and previously she worked at NASA. Starting July 2020, she will be an Assistant Professor at Cornell University and the Director of the newly formed Cornell ASTRA lab. Elaine has been named one of AviationWeek's 20Twenties Emerging Leaders in Aerospace and an Amelia Earhart fellow. Outside of the lab, Elaine finds adventure in cooking, biking, snowboarding, and hiking with her dogs.