Chris Maese
Deputy Division Chief
Phone: (650) 604-6633
Email: Chris.Maese@nasa.gov
Affiliation: NASA Ames Space Biosciences Division
Professional Background
Mr. Maese is responsible for management of the internal operations of the Division, comprising a portfolio of biosciences research and development projects that are important for NASA’s Human Exploration mission. He is also the Ames Liaison to the Human Research Program (HRP) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, a position he’s held since October 2009. As the Ames Liaison to HRP, he is responsible for managing the Ames personnel and budget for the tasks that support the various elements within this program. Mr. Maese has been with Ames since 1980. His association with NASA began when he was a graduate student at San Jose State University. He was awarded a NASA/San Jose State University grant to study bone histomorphometry with Dr. Emily Morey-Holton. While doing this research, he taught human physiology at San Jose State University and the West Valley-Mission Community College District. In 1988 he joined Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Company as a Crew Training Coordinator for the Spacelab Life Sciences-1, International Microgravity Laboratory-1, and Spacelab-Japan missions. In 1989, Mr. Maese was hired as the NASA Ames Research Center Crew Training Manager for all Fundamental Biology payloads, both plant and animal, developed by the Space Life Sciences Payloads Office. In 1992, Mr. Maese was assigned to the position of Ames Payload Manager for the International Microgravity Laboratory-2 mission. In 1994, he was designated the Ames Neurolab Payload Manager. He was responsible for integrating the hardware and science supporting 15 investigations, involving U.S. and international investigators, conducted on this life sciences mission dedicated to the study of neurobiology and launched in April 1998. In addition to his involvement in the dedicated life sciences Spacelab missions, he was responsible for crew training and operations on payloads developed for Spacelab middeck and SPACEHAB. Mr. Maese has received numerous awards for his involvement with space biosciences flight research and was awarded the Silver Snoopy Award by the Astronaut Office in appreciation for his work to ensure mission success in the Space Transportation System. In 2012, he was awarded NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal for his success in developing systems and performing research and enabling longer human missions in space. Mr. Maese received a B.S. in biology from Santa Clara University, and an M.A. in biology, emphasis in physiology, from San Jose State University.