Lisa Pratt
biologist, geochemist, geomicrobiologist
Lisa Pratt is an American biogeochemist and astrobiologist who served as the 7th Planetary Protection Officer for NASA from 2018 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. Her academic work as a student, professor, and researcher on organisms and their respective environments prepared her for the position, in which she was responsible for protecting Earth and other planets in the solar system from traveling microbes. She is a Provost Professor Emeritus of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences for Indiana University Bloomington.
Early life and education
Lisa Pratt was born and raised in Rochester, Minnesota. At her high school in Minnesota, Pratt took science courses up until her senior year. When she began college, she was determined not to pursue a degree in science because she felt women were not welcome in the field. Her father had been a surgeon at the Mayo Clinic, and she noted that none of his peers were female-identifying. Pratt first began her undergraduate education at Rollins College studying Spanish. However, she later transferred to University of North Carolina, where she began studying botany.
Pratt received her Bachelor's of Arts in botany from the University of North Carolina in 1972.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Lisa Pratt” as biologist, geochemist, geomicrobiologist. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as biologist, geochemist, geomicrobiologist. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q58099758. VIAF identifies the subject as 91518074. The Library of Congress control number is n85246848. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2018, 2021 and 1972.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Lisa Pratt”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lisa Pratt primary sources, Lisa Pratt archive and Lisa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lisa Pratt”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lisa Pratt” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.