Dr. Connolly is the Founding Chair of the Department of Geology in the School of Earth and Environment. He is also Mission Sample Scientist and Co-Investigator on NASA's Asteroid Sample Return Mission, OSIRIS-REx, and Co-Investigator on JAXA's Asteroid Sample Return Mission, Hayabusa2. His research focuses on constraining the formation of earth-like planets through the study of meteorites and asteroids.