Barbara G Kanki

Dr. Barbara Kanki served as a Research Scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Ames Research Center (Moffett Field, California) in the Human Systems Integration Division. Over her tenure of more than 25 years, she conducted human performance research in support of NASA Aviation Safety Programs, Human Factors and Performance for Space Safety, and a variety of Human Factors programs for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In a consulting role she worked with...See more

Dr. Barbara Kanki served as a Research Scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Ames Research Center (Moffett Field, California) in the Human Systems Integration Division. Over her tenure of more than 25 years, she conducted human performance research in support of NASA Aviation Safety Programs, Human Factors and Performance for Space Safety, and a variety of Human Factors programs for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In a consulting role she worked with other high risk industries such as the medical and nuclear power fields. Dr. Kanki's research activities have ranged across human factors topics such as crew communication and coordination, organizational factors, information and workload management for aviation operations including flight crews, ground control, and technical operations. Her research interests include human-centered procedure and document design, integration and training for new technologies as well as safety topics such as voluntary reporting and event investigation. She has supported the space side of NASA in human and socio-technical risk factors, team training, and procedure design primarily for the space shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center and has participated on NASA mishap boards, safety assessments and National Transportation Safety Board human performance investigations. After retiring from NASA in 2014, Dr. Kanki continues to contribute to NASA projects and FAA/industry groups, and is the current chair of the Human Performance working group of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety. Dr. Kanki received her doctorate in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Chicago, where she specialized in the areas of communication and group dynamics. She continues to author, edit, and review books, journals, and papers on human factors topics. See less