DR. EVERETT K. GIBSON, JR. received his B.S. (1963) and M.S. (1965) degrees in chemistry at Texas Tech University and his Ph.D. (1969) degree in geochemistry from Arizona State University.  Dr. Gibson was awarded a National Research Council (NRC) Postdoctoral Research Associate position (1969) in the Lunar and Earth Sciences Division, NASA Manned Spacecraft Center.  During this period, he began building an analytical laboratory for the analysis of the biogenic elements (e.g., H, C, N, O,  S, etc.) and their compounds in terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials.  In 1970 he accepted a position in the Geochemistry Branch at NASA.  His first responsibility was to serve as Mission Science Advisor for Apollo 14 in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory.  Responsibilities were to assist and give scientific advice during the receipt and processing of the lunar samples and to debrief the Apollo 14 crew.  At the same time, Dr. Gibson was carrying out research on the returned samples in the areas of volatile element studies.  He served as a Lunar Sample Principal Investigator from 1971 to 1990.  Dr. Gibson's work concentrated on the abundances,  distributions and isotopic compositions of the volatile elements in lunar samples and meteorites.  These studies have resulted in numerous publications (greater than 200) on the nature of the organogenic elements (H, C, S, N, O, etc.) and their compounds (e.g., H20, C0, C02, CH4, N2, S02, etc.) in extraterrestrial materials and their terrestrial analogs.  Dr. Gibson was a Principal Investigator in NASA's planetary geology program from 1977 to 1989 studying from Martian analogs and developing models for the evolution of water and other volatiles on Mars.  In 1979, he visited the Dry Valleys of Antarctica and conducted research which has shown that the weathering processes operating in the cold, arid region are similar to those observed for the Martian surface by the Viking landers.  Dr. Gibson has been developing analytical methods of analysis which might be potentially useful for future studies on Martian materials either in situ or on returned samples.  From 1979 through 1982 he was a Principal Investigator in NASA's Mars Data Analysis Program studying the geochemistry of volatiles in cold environments which are analogs of the Martian surface.  Since 1983, Dr. Gibson has been a Principal Investigator in NASA's Planetary Biology Program investigating volatiles in Archean rocks.  The studies analyzed the fluid inclusions and isotopic compositions of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen from suites of well-characterized Archean samples of different ages, in order to directly analyze the early volatiles which have contributed to the Earth's primitive atmosphere.  He has also been studying the volatiles associated with interplanetary dust particles in order to characterize the materials believed to be associated with comets and asteroids.

 In  1984  Dr. Gibson was one of nine Americans chosen to receive a Leverhulme Senior Visiting Fellow  Award for study in England.  He spent a year at the Open University, Milton Keynes, England where he worked with  Professor Colin T. Pillinger.  During the stay at the Open University, he demonstrated that nitrogen, carbon and oxygen stable isotopic measurements could be carried out on silicate samples after laser extraction of the N, C and O components.

 Dr. Gibson served as Co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Helen Lane of NASA-JSC for the determination of human energy requirements for space flight using non-invasive techniques: Doubly Labelled Water.  Both ground-based and Shuttle flight experiments are being carried out to determine the amounts of energy test subjects are expending.   The experiments were carried out on Space Shuttle Flights STS-45, -47, -52, -58, -60, -62, -64, -66, -69, and -70 as Directed Support Objectives (DSO-612).  DSO-612 is manifested for future STS flights along with the U.S. Shuttle-Soviet Programs.  The stable isotope mass spectrometry laboratory  at JSC is analyzing the fluid specimens from the subjects and results have shown that  JSC can now determine the amount of caloric energy expended by humans working in space.

 Dr. Gibson served as a Visiting Program Manager at the National Science Foundation, Washington, DC in 1979 to assist with the transfer and activation of selected portions of the lunar sample program which was transferred from NASA to NSF.  From 1974 to 1980 he served as Secretary of the Meteoritical Society, an international scientific organization which promotes the study of extraterrestrial materials-meteorites and lunar samples and served as a Council Member for the Meteoritical Society from 1986 to 1990.  In 1980 Dr. Gibson received the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from Arizona State University for his scientific research and for the advancement of this country's space program.  Dr. Gibson was the fourth person selected to the Arizona State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 1998.  Dr. Gibson has published more than 300 scientific papers, more than 200 of which have been presented at national and international meetings.  He presently serves as a geochemist-space scientist and is the co-leader of the Mars Meteorite Research Team in the Planetary Sciences Branch, Earth Sciences and Solar System Exploration Division and is manager of the Light Element Analysis Laboratory.  In March 1993, Dr. Gibson was promoted to the Senior Scientist position at NASA-JSC.

 Dr. Gibson was co-leader with David McKay and Kathie Thomas-Keprta of the NASA-JSC team which made the discovery of possible relic biogenic activity in the martian meteorite ALH84001.  The team announced the discovery on August 7, 1996 and the results were published in the 16th August issue of SCIENCE.  The research showed the presence of indigenous reduced carbon, carbonate globules and their associated secondary mineral phses, textures and morphologies which might be the microfossil remains of a past martian biota. Subsequent work has shown similar features in two younger Martian meteorites.  The work has been acclaimed as one of the outstanding discoveries in science in the 20th Century.   Dr. Gibson was awarded NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1997.  In 1999, Dr. Gibson was the co-discoverer of the first molecular water trapped within a fluid inclusion in halite crystals within the Monahans (1998) chondritic meteorite.  Subsequent age dating of the halite crystals showed it was 4.5 billion years old and represents a sample of water remaining from the time of early solar system formation. 
Dr. Gibson presently services on the Science Advisory Team for the Beagle2 Mission to Mars.  Beagle2 is part of the Mars Express mission of the European Space Agency designed to search for life on Mars.  The spacecraft will be launched during the Spring 2003 and will land on Mars on December 26th, 2003.  He is the only U.S. scientist participating with the Beagle2 Science Team. 

 Col. Gibson actively participates in airshows throughout America as a crew member of the B-17G Flying Fortress TEXAS RAIDERS.  He is a certified flight engineer and loadmaster for the B-17G and has completed 126 missions in the World War II bomber.  He has assisted or lead two restorations of the historic B-17G aircraft which has been identified by aviation publications and awards at national airshows to be one of the best restored World War II bombers flying today.  He serves as the Executive Officer for the Gulf Coast Wing of the Confederate Air Force in Houston, Texas.  Col. Gibson is the military liaison officer for the nationally acclaimed WINGS OVER HOUSTON Airshow held annually in Houston.  His responsibilities include acqusition of both static and flight demonstrations of modern military aircraft for the airshow.