My research uses petrology, geochemistry, and more recently geophysics to investigate the origin and evolution of the Moon and large igneous provinces ("supervolcanoes"). In recent years I have become more active in human space exploration, primarily on the Moon, but with the goal of getting humans further out into the Solar System.

Neal has served on numerous mission and research review panels, including being the Chair of the Lunar Sample Allocation subcommittee 2005-2009, and was a member of the Senior Review panel for NASA’s Planetary Science Division in 2012 and chaired that panel in 2014. He was the chair of NASA’s Lunar Exploration Analysis Group from 2006-2010, and again from 2015-2018. He is currently a member of the National Academies Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science and has helped in the training of the current class of NASA astronauts. Neal is passionate about NASA and in returning humans to the Moon and beyond in a sustainable, economically beneficial way. In 2015, he received the NASA “Wargo Award” for contributions to the integration of exploration and planetary science throughout his career.