Roberta Beal

She/Her/They/Them

I’m queer and I operate the ChemCam instrument on the Curiosity rover and the SuperCam instrument on the Perseverance rover.//

 

My background is in planetary science. I have studied mars for over 10 years. I served in the United States Navy as a Quartermaster Second Class Petty Officer (surface warfare) and completed two deployments to the Middle East during DADT. I currently work at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a Scientist 1 in the Intelligence and Space Research division, where I literally zap rocks on the surface of mars with robots. I was a member of GetEqual New Mexico, where I helped to organize and participated in marches and actions to win marriage equality in New Mexico. I currently served as the Chair of Prism, Los Alamos National Laboratory’s LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group, and I’m also was a board member of Friends of Los Alamos Pride, where I helped to plan the town’s first pride week.