Nancy Thomas ’10, Director of Image Processing and Software at BlackSky

Nancy Thomas ’10 is the Director of Image Processing and Software at BlackSky, a geospatial intelligence company with a constellation of over 16 satellites imaging the Earth. After graduating from Forest Ridge, she majored in Physics and Astronomy and minored in Math and Earth & Space Sciences at the University of Washington as part of the Washington NASA Space Grant program. She then earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), working on the Mars Curiosity rover science and operations teams. She was awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for her thesis using the Curiosity rover and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to detect salts on the surface of Mars to better characterize the planet’s aqueous history. Now, Nancy applies her remote sensing expertise to our own planet as she develops algorithms to convert bytes into insights for BlackSky’s global customers. She continues to grow as a leader in her career after first developing her voice at Forest Ridge. Nancy is also a leader and officer for her sorority Zeta Tau Alpha in the Seattle alumnae chapter. In her free time, she loves to ski, travel, and read. Nancy has happily relocated back to Seattle and loves adventures in the Pacific Northwest with her family, fiancé Nathan, and rescue pup Frango.