An Interview with Harriet Brettle (MS '19), KISS Executive Director

For over a decade, the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) has brought together scientists and engineers from campus, JPL, and around the world to develop innovative new space missions and technologies. Recently, Harriet Brettle (MS '19) was named KISS's new executive director, joining Professor of Planetary Science Bethany Ehlmann, who is the KISS director and leadership chair. We sat down with Brettle to discuss the future of space missions and her return to Caltech.

What are your responsibilities as executive director?

A core element of my job is to bring people together through our workshops and other events. I'm responsible for the day-to-day operations, and Bethany [Ehlmann], as the KISS director, provides strategic leadership on the key aspects of the Institute. We work together very closely on shaping those activities.

Our most recent workshop was called "Blazing Paths to Observing Stellar and Exoplanet Particle Environments," which was all about understanding the particle environment of planets around other stars. This fantastic group brought together experts from across the planetary and heliophysics communities to further our understanding of stellar space weather.

We also have events on campus, including networking mixers for Caltech and JPL colleagues, guest lectures for public audiences, and we also support the professional development of grad students and postdocs through our affiliate program.

Could you tell us how the KISS workshop environment is unique?

It's a really collaborative environment! Our workshops are not like a typical conference. We're not asking people to present and listen; it's really dynamic, and I think that's the key.

The other element that makes it stand out is the interdisciplinary nature of the communities we convene. We focus on trying to bring together groups who maybe haven't talked together in the past, or who haven't collaborated. By looking at a problem from different angles we see different solutions that might not have been visible before.

What was your journey from Caltech grad student to this position?

I think I've always taken a somewhat nontraditional path. I worked in finance before coming to Caltech. I was a math major in undergrad, and I kind of fell into finance. Then I realized that it wasn't what I wanted to do and looked for a way to pursue my passion in space.

I was here from 2017 to 2018 in the PhD program for planetary science. I was working with Mike Brown [Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy; Terence D. Barr Leadership Chair and Director of the Caltech Center for Comparative Planetary Evolution] and Andy Ingersoll [professor of planetary science, emeritus] primarily on Jupiter and its moons, and I loved it. But I think I realized after my first year that academia wasn't quite for me. I loved space science, but I couldn't see myself following the traditional academic research route.

Once I passed my qualifying exam, I reflected on what I wanted to do and made the decision to go back to the UK with a masters' degree rather than continue on with the PhD. I then spent a couple of years working at a space start-up in the UK that was focused on space sustainability. More recently, I was working at the European Space Agency as the head of market analysis and business intelligence focusing on satellite communications.

A professor at Caltech actually shared with me the job description. Otherwise, I'm not sure I would have seen it! The more I learned about it, the more excited I got about the opportunity to come back to the space science world in a role that was more suited to my skill set and what I wanted to do. I'm not here in a research capacity, but I get to work with amazing scientists and researchers from Caltech, JPL, and beyond, and help bring them together to make that magic happen. That's where I love to be.

Are there particular skills from your nontraditional background that you're excited to bring to this role?

This job is a kind of jack-of-all-trades. Part of the role is operational with organizing our workshops and managing financial matters, but it's also engaging with the scientists and engineers who participate in our events and make sure they get the most out of them. Somehow, the different—and what felt like disconnected—experiences I've had in the past have all come together to help prepare me for this job. The finance background, having the planetary science master's, organizing workshops in past roles, and building communities have helped prepare me for this role in a way that I wouldn't have necessarily expected, but the stars aligned, and it came together.

Are there particular things that you're really looking forward to or a particular workshop topic that you're excited about?

I'm really excited to experience my first workshop in person and see the magic come together.

The other thing I'm really excited about is championing the impact of what KISS has been able to achieve in the past and what we can do in the future. KISS is recognized for its significant impact in many different areas. Through over a hundred workshops, we've brought together thousands of people from over 300 organizations representing 27 countries, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.

Ideas developed at KISS workshops have become selected missions, such as the Lunar Trailblazer mission that was recommended in a 2009 study on lunar ice mapping, or a 2010 KISS workshop on planetary seismology that helped to build the science case for the Mars Insight mission. Numerous white papers from KISS studies have informed the decadal process and helped to define the most compelling science questions for the decade ahead. KISS also empowers future leaders of the science and technology community, and it's amazing to see previous early career participants advancing their careers.

I feel incredibly grateful to the past leadership of Tom Prince and Michele Judd for the lasting impact they have made, and I feel truly honored to continue forward, following in their footsteps.

How do you keep a long-term oriented vision while managing the day-to-day operations?

It's something that's very important to reflect on, particularly when we're focusing on ideas that might take a decade to materialize. Part of that is keeping track of the impact of KISS activities over time, but also reflecting on how we can help our participants, who come together with amazing ideas, momentum, and energy, to channel that into the next steps and the follow-up. It's about helping to focus that energy into the "what comes next" piece.

How do you feel about being back at Caltech?

I'm so thrilled! This role really was one of those opportunities that I couldn't say no to, despite being a big decision to move to a new country and change jobs. This time, I've brought my husband and cat along for the adventure! It helps that I was familiar with Caltech already and knew what a fantastic place it was. I also love being so close to the mountains, observatories, and, of course, the sunshine! It is really wonderful to be back.