J. Andy Spry

Dr. James Andrew (Andy) Spry received a B.Sc.(hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Surrey, UK, in 1987 and remained there to obtain a PhD in Molecular Toxicology in 1991. After roles in consumable, instrument and services aspects of the life sciences industry, where he also earned an MBA, he became involved in planetary protection in 2001 as the Planetary Protection Manager for the UK's Beagle2 lander mission to Mars team. Prior to joining the SETI Institute in 2015, he spent 10 years working at the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, performing planetary protection work on missions from Dawn in 2005 through to the more recent M2020 and Europa Clipper projects. In his current role at SETI, he provides program and mission/project support to NASA's Office of Planetary Protection, particularly in development of planetary protection policy and implementation for future crewed Mars mission concepts.