Dawn Sumner

Dawn Yvonne Sumner is an American geologist, planetary scientist, and astrobiologist. She is a professor at the University of California, Davis. Sumner's research includes evaluating microbial communities in Antarctic lakes, exploration of Mars via the Curiosity rover, and characterization of microbial communities in the lab and from ancient geologic samples. She is an investigator on the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and was Chair of the UC Davis Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences from 2014-2016. She is Fellow of the Geological Society of America.
Early life and education.
Sumner was born near Seattle, Washington, and spent part of her childhood on the Yakama Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest. From there, she earned a B.S. with Honors in geology from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for her Ph.D. which she completed in 1995. Sumner then returned Caltech for postdoctoral research, supported by an O.K. Earl Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Awards and honors.
Sumner was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America in 2014. Also in 2014, she was selected to deliver the honorary Carl Sagan Lecture at the American Geophysical Union. In 2016, Sumner was awarded the Career Award for Outstanding Contributions in Geosciences, Geobiology and Microbiology from the Geological Society of America. Sumner also received the distinguished career award from the University of California, Davis 2016: for extensive research in microbiology, geochemistry, and research in the exploration of mars over her career. More recently, Sumner's was one of 14 selected to become a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences for her contributions to the study of microbial sciences.
Equality and sexual harassment in science.
Sumner is the author of a widely used anti-harassment statement that she made public so that other universities and institutes could use it as a model. A leader in helping institutions develop anti-harassment plans, Sumner presented to a workshop at the 2016 American Geophysical Union on “Addressing harassment and improving workplace climate.” She was also an invited presenter for Association of Polar Early Career Scientists webinar on sexual harassment during fieldwork. Sumner is presently Chair of Advisory Board for The Feminist Research Institute at the UC, Davis In June 2020 she became the leader of the Anti-Racism Action Committee in her department (Earth and Planetary Science) at UC Davis. Sumner also wrote four letters concerning racism and its effects on the science community between late May and early June 2020
Outreach.
Sumner has presented lectures to public and school groups, and she has participated in videos and films on exploring Mars. These have included presentations at Sierra College, a Northern California Rotary Club, and Sacramento State University's Science in the River City. She appeared in several videos on Mars exploration, including ones hosted by UC Davis and in the Finnish documentary film “The Other Side of Mars”.
Dawn Sumner's research has been covered in local and national media outlets, including Popular Science, Wired Magazine, KPCC public radio, the television series Take Part, and the BBC.