About James
James Burk is the Executive Director of The Mars Society and is leading the set up of the Mars Technology Institute. With a background as a Microsoft engineer and technical project director, Burk combines broad technological expertise with a deep passion for space exploration.
Executive Director
Leading The Mars Society's global mission to promote human exploration and settlement of Mars.
Mars Analog Research
Managing the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah and Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station in Canada.
MDRS Crew Commander
Led Transatlantic MDRS Crew 261, featured on CBS and Northwest Aerospace News Magazine.
Technology Director
24 years at Microsoft as engineer and project manager, plus nonprofit technology leadership.
Full Biography
James L Burk is the Executive Director of The Mars Society, the Director of Mars Technology Institute, and Cofounder of Space Northwest.
The Mars Society is the world's leading nonprofit dedicated to human exploration of Mars. They manage the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, globally recognized as the premier Mars analog facility, and the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station in Canada, both critical for Mars analog research. James oversees their extensive program delivery, fundraising efforts, global chapter coordination, and new initiative development. Read Together, Let's Make 2025 the Year of Mars Exploration!
James has been volunteering at The Mars Society since 1998, when he came across it after joining Microsoft in Seattle and becoming the founding member in their first year. At the 1999 annual convention, he presented how the organization could create a world-class web presence to advance its goals and support its technical projects.
His tenure also includes serving as the Commander of Transatlantic MDRS Crew 261, featured on CBS and Northwest Aerospace News, a mission that reflected his hands-on commitment to advancing Mars exploration. Read Northwest Aerospace News.
In 2023, James helped Robert Zubrin start the Mars Technology Institute, raising $150,000 through a successful community-based crowdfunding campaign.
James spearheaded their MarsVR initiative, leading efforts since 2018 to harness virtual reality and human-machine interaction technologies for space exploration research, raising over $150k for these innovative projects.
Between 2020 and 2021, James organized several significant virtual events. He was the lead organizer and event technologist for the 2020 and 2021 Mars Society Virtual Conventions, which had over 15,000 attendees and over 300 speakers and were seen by over 100,000 people via live streaming on YouTube and Facebook Live.
As part of the 2020 conference, James had the opportunity to discuss Mars colonization with Elon Musk at the Mars Society conference, an interview that reached millions worldwide. Watch Elon Musk — 2020 Mars Society Virtual Convention.
James chaired the 2020 and 2021 Lunar Development Conference, which brought together over 400 lunar scientists, advocates, and business professionals. James edited the 2020 conference proceedings book. Read Return to the Moon VII: Proceedings of the 2020 Lunar Development Conference.
In 2024, James presented at the International Space Development Conference in LA with his session Notes from the Frontier.
In 2022, James cofounded and became the Director of Space Northwest. The company has a mission to connect, educate, and inspire the individuals and communities of the Pacific Northwest to use Space to improve life on Earth and our future beyond it. They do this through their meetups and events, each offering a chance to be a part of humanity's journey to space.
Education & Career
James earned his Bachelor's Degree of Science in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of Florida in 1997.
He began his career at Microsoft in 1998 after he graduated. Initially, he joined the prestigious Office Shared Feature Team. Over his 24-year tenure, James evolved through various roles, including project manager, developer, business analyst, and consultant/contractor, earning multiple performance awards from both Microsoft and contracting agencies.
In his final role at Microsoft until the end of 2021, James was a Technical Project Manager within the Global Demand Center, managing the lead flow of multiple products from marketing to sales. His responsibilities included overseeing the comprehensive work item tracking system and preparing executive presentations and communications.
In 2022, he received his Certificate in Nonprofit Management from The University of Texas at Austin.
Podcast Appearances
Listen to Red Planet Radio: James L Burk, IT Director & Mars VR Lead, The Mars Society.
Connect with James
Visit his LinkedIn profile. Follow him on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram. Follow his Contributions on The Mars Society Blog.