Dr. Leslie Young received her Ph.D. from MIT in 1994, and has devoted her career to the study of the outer solar system, in particular the dwarf planet Pluto and its surroundings. She worked at NASA Ames Research Center and Boston University, prior to joining the staff of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado in 1999. She has worked extensively on the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, including serving as a Deputy Project Scientist and Team Lead for Pluto Encounter Planning. She has published over 100 articles.