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By NASA
10 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Return to 2024 SARP Closeout Faculty Advisors:
Dr. Guanyu Huang, Stony Brook University
Graduate Mentor:
Ryan Schmedding, McGill University
Ryan Schmedding, Graduate Mentor
Ryan Schmedding, graduate mentor for the 2024 SARP Atmospheric Science group, provides an introduction for each of the group members and shares behind-the scenes moments from the internship.
Danielle Jones
Remote sensing of poor air quality in mountains: A case study in Kathmandu, Nepal
Danielle Jones
Urban activity produces particulate matter in the atmosphere known as aerosol particles. These aerosols can negatively affect human health and cause changes to the climate system. Measures for aerosols include surface level PM2.5 concentration and aerosol optical depth (AOD). Kathmandu, Nepal is an urban area that rests in a valley on the edge of the Himalayas and is home to over three million people. Despite the prevailing easterly winds, local aerosols are mostly concentrated in the valley from the residential burning of coal followed by industry. Exposure to PM2.5 has caused an estimated ≥8.6% of deaths annually in Nepal. We paired NASA satellite AOD and elevation data, model meteorological data, and local AirNow PM2.5 and air quality index (AQI) data to determine causes of variation in pollutant measurement during 2023, with increased emphasis on the post-monsoon season (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31). We see the seasonality of meteorological data related to PM2.5 and AQI. During periods of low temperature, low wind speed, and high pressure, PM2.5 and AQI data slightly diverge. This may indicate that temperature inversions increase surface level concentrations of aerosols but have little effect on the total air column. The individual measurements of surface pressure, surface temperature, and wind speed had no observable correlation to AOD (which was less variable than PM2.5 and AQI over the entire year). Elevation was found to have no observable effect on AOD during the period of study. Future research should focus on the relative contributions of different pollutants to the AQI to test if little atmospheric mixing causes the formation of low-altitude secondary pollutants in addition to PM2.5 leading to the observed divergence in AQI and PM2.5.
Madison Holland
Analyzing the Transport and Impact of June 2023 Canadian Wildfire Smoke on Surface PM2.5 Levels in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Madison Holland
The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was unparalleled in its severity. Over 17 million hectares burned, the largest area ever burned in a single season. The smoke from these wildfires spread thousands of kilometers, causing a large population to be exposed to air pollution. Wildfires can release a variety of air pollutants, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5). PM2.5 directly affects human health – exposure to wildfire-related PM2.5 has been associated with respiratory issues such as the exacerbation of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In June 2023, smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifted southward into the United States. The northeastern United States reported unhealthy levels of air quality due to the transportation of the smoke. In particular, Pennsylvania reported that Canadian wildfires caused portions of the state to have “Hazardous” air quality. Our research focused on how Allentown, PA experienced hazardous levels of air quality from this event. To analyze the concentrations of PM2.5 at the surface level, NASA’s Hazardous Air Quality Ensemble System (HAQES) and the EPA’s Air Quality System (AQS) ground-based site data were utilized. By comparing HAQES’s forecast of hazardous air quality events with recorded daily average PM2.5 with the EPA’s AQS, we were able to compare how well the ensemble system was at predicting total PM2.5 during unhealthy air quality days. NOAA’s Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model, pyrsig, and the Canadian National Fire Database were used. These datasets revealed the trajectory of aerosols from the wildfires to Allentown, Pennsylvania, identified the densest regions of the smoke plumes, and provided a map of wildfire locations in southeastern Canada. By integrating these datasets, we traced how wildfire smoke transported aerosols from the source at the ground level.
Michele Iraci
Trends and Transport of Tropospheric Ozone From New York City to Connecticut in the Summer of 2023
Michele Iraci
Tropospheric Ozone, or O₃, is a criteria pollutant contributing to most of Connecticut and New York City’s poor air quality days. It has adverse effects on human health, particularly for high-risk individuals. Ozone is produced by nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds from fuel combustion reacting with sunlight. The Ozone Transport Region (OTR) is a collection of states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States that experience cross-state pollution of O₃. Connecticut has multiple days a year where O₃ values exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards requiring the implementation of additional monitoring and standards because it falls in the OTR. Partially due to upstream transport from New York City, Connecticut experiences increases in O₃ concentrations in the summer months. Connecticut has seen declines in poor air quality days from O₃ every year due to the regulations on ozone and its precursors. We use ground-based Lidar, Air Quality System data, and a back-trajectory model to examine a case of ozone enhancement in Connecticut caused by air pollutants from New York between June and August 2023. In this time period, Connecticut’s ozone enhancement was caused by air pollutants from New York City. As a result, New York City and Connecticut saw similar O₃ spikes and decline trends. High-temperature days increase O₃ in both places, and wind out of the southwest may transport O₃ to Connecticut. Production and transport of O₃ from New York City help contribute to Connecticut’s poor air quality days, resulting in the need for interstate agreements on pollution management.
Stefan Sundin
Correlations Between the Planetary Boundary Layer Height and the Lifting Condensation Level
Stefan Sundin
The Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) characterizes the lowest layer in the atmosphere that is coupled with diurnal heating at the surface. The PBL grows during the day as solar heating causes pockets of air near the surface to rise and mix with cooler air above. Depending on the type of terrain and surface albedo that receives solar heating, the depth of the PBL can vary to a great extent. This makes PBL height (PBLH) a difficult variable to quantify spatially and temporally. While several methods have been used to obtain the PBLH such as wind profilers and lidar techniques, there is still a level of uncertainty associated with PBLH. One method of predicting seasonal PBLH fluctuation and potentially lessening uncertainty that will be discussed in this study is recognizing a correlation in PBLH with the lifting condensation level (LCL). Like the PBL, the LCL is used as a convective parameter when analyzing upper air data, and classifies the height in the atmosphere at which a parcel becomes saturated when lifted by a forcing mechanism, such as a frontal boundary, localized convergence, or orographic lifting. A reason to believe that PBLH and LCL are interconnected is their dependency on both the amount of surface heating and moisture that is present in the environment. These thermodynamic properties are of interest in heavily populated metropolitan areas within the Great Plains, as they are more susceptible to severe weather outbreaks and associated economic losses. Correlations between PBLH and LCL over the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan statistical area during the summer months of 2019-2023 will be discussed.
Angelica Kusen
Coupling of Chlorophyll-a Concentrations and Aerosol Optical Depth in the Subantarctic Southern Ocean and South China Sea (2019-2021)
Angelica Kusen
Air-sea interactions form a complex feedback mechanism, whereby aerosols impact physical and biogeochemical processes in marine environments, which, in turn, alter aerosol properties. One key indicator of these interactions is chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), a pigment common to all phytoplankton and a widely used proxy for primary productivity in marine ecosystems. Phytoplankton require soluble nutrients and trace metals for growth, which typically come from oceanic processes such as upwelling. These nutrients can also be supplied via wet and dry deposition, where atmospheric aerosols are removed from the atmosphere and deposited into the ocean. To explore this interaction, we analyze the spatial and temporal variations of satellite-derived chl-a and AOD, their correlations, and their relationship with wind patterns in the Subantarctic Southern Ocean and the South China Sea from 2019 to 2021, two regions with contrasting environmental conditions.
In the Subantarctic Southern Ocean, a positive correlation (r²= 0.26) between AOD and Chl-a was found, likely due to dust storms following Austrian wildfires. Winds deposit dust aerosols rich in nutrients, such as iron, to the iron-limited ocean, enhancing phytoplankton photosynthesis and increasing chl-a. In contrast, the South China Sea showed no notable correlation (r² = -0.02) between AOD and chl-a. Decreased emissions due to COVID-19 and stricter pollution controls likely reduced the total AOD load and shifted the composition of aerosols from anthropogenic to more natural sources.
These findings highlight the complex interrelationship between oceanic biological activity and the chemical composition of the atmosphere, emphasizing that atmospheric delivery of essential nutrients, such as iron and phosphorus, promotes phytoplankton growth. Finally, NASA’s recently launched PACE mission will contribute observations of phytoplankton community composition at unprecedented scale, possibly enabling attribution of AOD levels to particular groups of phytoplankton.
Chris Hautman
Estimating CO₂ Emission from Rocket Plumes Using in Situ Data from Low Earth Atmosphere
Chris Hautman
Rocket emissions in the lower atmosphere are becoming an increasing environmental concern as space exploration and commercial satellite launches have increased exponentially in recent years. Rocket plumes are one of the few known sources of anthropogenic emissions directly into the upper atmosphere. Emissions in the lower atmosphere may also be of interest due to their impacts on human health and the environment, in particular, ground level pollutants transported over wildlife protected zones, such as the Everglades, or population centers near launch sites. While rockets are a known source of atmospheric pollution, the study of rocket exhaust is an ongoing task. Rocket exhaust can have a variety of compositions depending on the type of engine, the propellants used, including fuels, oxidizers, and monopropellants, the stoichiometry of the combustion itself also plays a role. In addition, there has been increasing research into compounds being vaporized in atmospheric reentry. These emissions, while relatively minimal compared to other methods of travel, pose an increasing threat to atmospheric stability and environmental health with the increase in human space activity. This study attempts to create a method for estimating the total amount of carbon dioxide released by the first stage of a rocket launch relative to the mass flow of RP-1, a highly refined kerosene (C₁₂H₂₆)), and liquid oxygen (LOX) propellants. Particularly, this study will focus on relating in situ CO₂ emission data from a Delta II rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base on April 15, 1999, to CO₂ emissions from popular modern rockets, such as the Falcon 9 (SpaceX) and Soyuz variants (Russia). The findings indicate that the CO₂ density of any RP-1/LOX rocket is 6.9E-7 times the mass flow of the sum of all engines on the first stage. The total mass of CO₂ emitted can be further estimated by modeling the volume of the plume as cylindrical. Therefore, the total mass can be calculated as a function of mass flow and first stage main engine cutoff. Future CO₂ emissions on an annual basis are calculated based on these estimations and anticipated increases in launch frequency.
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By NASA
The future of human space exploration took a bold step forward at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Nov. 15, 2024, as Texas A&M University leaders’ broke ground for the Texas A&M University Space Institute.
Texas state officials, NASA leaders, and distinguished guests participated in the ceremony, held near the future development site of Johnson’s new Exploration Park, marking an important milestone in a transformative partnership to advance research, innovation, and human spaceflight.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche gives remarks at the Texas A&M University Space Institute groundbreaking ceremony in Houston on Nov. 15, 2024. NASA/Robert Markowitz “This groundbreaking is not just a physical act of breaking ground or planting a flag,” said Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche. “This is the moment our vision—to dare to expand frontiers and unite with our partners to explore for the benefit of all humanity—will be manifested.”
The Texas A&M University Space Institute will be the first tenant at NASA’s 240-acre Exploration Park to support facilities that enhance commercial access, foster a collaborative development environment, and strengthen the United States’ competitiveness in the space and aerospace industries.
Chairman Bill Mahomes Jr. of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, left, Chancellor John Sharp of the Texas A&M University System, and Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche hold a commemorative plaque celebrating the establishment of the Texas A&M University Space Institute at Exploration Park. NASA/Robert Markowitz Exploration Park aims to foster research, technology transfer, and a sustainable pipeline of career development for the Artemis Generation and Texas workers transitioning to the space economy. The park represents a key achievement of Johnson’s 2024 Dare | Unite | Explore commitments, emphasizing its role as the hub of human spaceflight, developing strategic partnerships, and paving the way for a thriving space economy.
Research conducted at the Space Institute is expected to accelerate human spaceflight by providing opportunities for the brightest minds worldwide to address the challenges of living in low Earth orbit, on the Moon, and on Mars.
Senior leadership from Johnson Space Center gathers for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Texas A&M University Space Institute. NASA/Robert Markowitz Industry leaders and Johnson executives stood alongside NASA’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle and Space Exploration Vehicle, symbolizing their commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration.
Texas A&M University Space Institute director and retired NASA astronaut Dr. Nancy Currie-Gregg and Dr. Rob Ambrose, Space Institute associate director, served as the masters of ceremony for the event. Johnson leaders present included Deputy Director Stephen Koerner; Associate Director Donna Shafer; Associate Director for Vision and Strategy Douglas Terrier; Director of External Relations Office Arturo Sanchez; and Chief Technologist and Director of the Business Development and Technology Integration Office Nick Skytland.
Also in attendance were Texas State Rep. Greg Bonnen; Texas A&M University System Board of Regents Chairman William Mahomes Jr.; Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp; Texas A&M University President and Retired Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh III; and Texas A&M Engineering Vice Chancellor and Dean Robert Bishop.
Texas A&M University Space Institute Director and retired NASA astronaut Nancy Currie-Gregg plants a Texas A&M University Space Institute flag at Johnson Space Center, symbolizing the partnership between the institute and NASA.NASA/Robert Markowitz The institute, expected to open in September 2026, will feature the world’s largest indoor simulation spaces for lunar and Martian surface operations, high-bay laboratories, and multifunctional project rooms.
“The future of Texas’ legacy in aerospace is brighter than ever as the Texas A&M Space Institute in Exploration Park will create an unparalleled aerospace, economic, business development, research, and innovation region across the state,” Wyche said. “Humanity’s next giant leap starts here!”
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By NASA
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Nick Hague pedals on the Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS), an exercise cycle located aboard the International Space Station’s Destiny laboratory module. CEVIS provides aerobic and cardiovascular conditioning through recumbent (leaning back position) or upright cycling activities.NASA Lee esta historia en español aquí.
The International Space Station is humanity’s home in space and a research station orbiting about 250 miles above the Earth. NASA and its international partners have maintained a continuous human presence aboard the space station for more than 24 years, conducting research that is not possible on Earth.
The people living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory also are part of the research being conducted, helping to address complex human health issues on Earth and prepare humanity for travel farther than ever before, including the Moon and Mars.
Here are a few frequently asked questions about how NASA and its team of medical physicians, psychologists, nutritionists, exercise scientists, and other specialized caretakers ensure astronauts’ health and fitness aboard the orbiting laboratory.
How long is a typical stay aboard the International Space Station?
A typical mission to the International Space Station lasts about six months, but can vary based on visiting spacecraft schedules, mission priorities, and other factors. NASA astronauts also have remained aboard the space station for longer periods of time. These are known as long-duration missions, and previous missions have given NASA volumes of data about long-term spaceflight and its effects on the human body, which the agency applies to any crewed mission.
During long-duration missions, NASA’s team of medical professionals focus on optimizing astronauts’ physical and behavioral health and their performance to help ensure mission success. These efforts also are helping NASA prepare for future human missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
How does NASA keep astronauts healthy while in space?
NASA has a team of medical doctors, psychologists, and others on the ground dedicated to supporting the health and well-being of astronauts before, during, and after each space mission. NASA assigns physicians with specialized training in space medicine, called flight surgeons, to each crew once named to a mission. Flight surgeons oversee the health care and medical training as crew members prepare for their mission, and they monitor the crew’s health before, during, and after their mission to the space station.
How does NASA support its astronauts’ mental and emotional well-being while in space?
The NASA behavioral health team provides individually determined psychological support services for crew members and their families during each mission. Ensuring astronauts can thrive in extreme environments starts as early as the astronaut selection process, in which applicants are evaluated on competencies such as adaptability and resilience. Astronauts receive extensive training to help them use self-assessment tools and treatments to manage their behavioral health. NASA also provides training in expeditionary skills to prepare every astronaut for missions on important competencies, such as self-care and team care, communication, and leadership and followership skills.
To help maintain motivation and morale aboard the space station, astronauts can email, call, and video conference with their family and friends, receive crew care packages aboard NASA’s cargo resupply missions, and teleconference with a psychologist, if needed.
How does microgravity affect astronaut physical health?
In microgravity, without the continuous load of Earth’s gravity, there are many changes to the human body. NASA understands many of the human system responses to the space environment, including adaptations to bone density, muscle, sensory-motor, and cardiovascular health, but there is still much to learn. These spaceflight effects vary from astronaut to astronaut, so NASA flight surgeons regularly monitor each crew member’s health during a mission and individualize diet and fitness routines to prioritize health and fitness while in space.
Why do astronauts exercise in space?
Each astronaut aboard the orbiting laboratory engages in specifically designed, Earth-like exercise plans. To maintain their strength and endurance, crew members are scheduled for two and a half hours of daily exercise to support muscle, bone, aerobic, and sensorimotor health. Current equipment onboard the space station includes the ARED (Advanced Resistive Exercise Device), which mimics weightlifting; a treadmill, called T2; and the CEVIS (Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System) for cardiovascular exercise.
What roles do food and nutrition play in supporting astronaut health?
Nutrition plays a critical role in maintaining an astronaut’s health and optimal performance before, during, and after their mission. Food also plays a psychosocial role during an astronaut’s long-duration stay aboard the space station. Experts working in NASA’s Space Food Systems Laboratory at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston develop foods that are nutritious and appetizing. Crew members also have the opportunity to supplement the menu with personal favorites and off-the-shelf items, which can provide a taste of home.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson is pictured in the galley aboard the International Space Station’s Unity module showing off food packets from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).NASA How does NASA know whether astronauts are getting the proper nutrients?
NASA’s nutritional biochemistry dietitians and scientists determine the nutrients (vitamins, minerals, calories) the astronauts require while in space. This team tracks what each crew member eats through a tablet-based tracking program, which each astronaut completes daily. The data from the app is sent to the dietitians weekly to monitor dietary intake. Analyzing astronaut blood and urine samples taken before, during, and after space missions is a crucial part of studying how their bodies respond to the unique conditions of spaceflight. These samples provide valuable insight into how each astronaut adapts to microgravity, radiation, and other factors that affect human physiology in space.
How do astronauts train to work together while in space?
In addition to technical training, astronauts participate in team skills training. They learn effective group living skills and how to look out for and support one another. Due to its remote and isolated nature, long-duration spaceflight can make teamwork difficult. Astronauts must maintain situational awareness and implement the flight program in an ever-changing environment. Therefore, effective communication is critical when working as a team aboard station and with multiple support teams on the ground. Astronauts also need to be able to communicate complex information to people with different professional backgrounds. Ultimately, astronauts are people living and working together aboard the station and must be able to do a highly technical job and resolve any interpersonal issues that might arise.
What happens if there is a medical emergency on the space station?
All astronauts undergo medical training and have regular contact with a team of doctors closely monitoring their health on the ground. NASA also maintains a robust pharmacy and a suite of medical equipment onboard the space station to treat various conditions and injuries. If a medical emergency requires a return to Earth, the crew will return in the spacecraft they launched aboard to receive urgent medical care on the ground.
Expedition 69 NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is seen resting and talking with NASA ISS Program Manager Joel Montalbano, kneeling left, NASA Flight Surgeon Josef Schmid, red hat, and NASA Chief of the Astronaut Office Joe Acaba, outside the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft after he landed with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023.NASA/Bill Ingalls Learn more about NASA’s Human Health and Performance Directorate at:
www.nasa.gov/hhp
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By NASA
Pictured (clockwise) from bottom left are astronauts Charles O. Hobaugh, commander; Mike Foreman, Leland Melvin, Robert L. Satcher Jr. and Randy Bresnik, all mission specialists; along with Barry E. “Butch” Wilmore, pilot; and Nicole Stott, mission specialist.NASA The STS-129 crew members pose for a portrait following a joint news conference with the Expedition 21 crew members on Nov. 24, 2009. Astronauts Charles O. Hobaugh, Mike Foreman, Leland Melvin, Robert L. Satcher Jr., Randy Bresnik, Butch Wilmore, and Nicole Stott launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 16, 2009, aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. Traveling with them was nearly 30,000 pounds of replacement parts and equipment that would keep the orbital outpost supplied for several years to come.
The Atlantis crew performed three demanding but successful spacewalks – and enjoyed a surprise Thanksgiving dinner on the station, courtesy of the Expedition 21 crew.
Image credit: NASA
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By NASA
Associate Director for Mission Planning, Earth Sciences, and environmental scientist Robert J. “Bob” Swap makes a difference by putting knowledge into action.
Name: Robert J. “Bob” Swap
Title: Associate Director for Mission Planning, Earth Sciences
Organization: Earth Science Division (Code 610)
Robert Swap (right) and Karen St. Germain, NASA Earth science director (left) joined NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program, an eight-week summer internship program for rising senior undergraduates during summer 2023. Photo courtesy of Robert Swap What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?
I work with our personnel to come up with the most viable mission concepts and put together the best teams to work on these concepts. I love working across the division, and with the center and the broader community, to engage with diverse competent teams and realize their potential in address pressing challenges in the earth sciences.
Why did you become an Earth scientist?
In the mid to late ’70s, the environment became a growing concern. I read all the Golden Guides in the elementary school library to learn about different creatures. I grew up exploring and discovering the surrounding woods, fields, and creeks, both on my own and through scouting and became drawn to nature, its connectedness, and its complexity. The time I spent fishing with my father, a military officer who also worked with meteorology, and my brother helped cement that love. I guess you could say that I became “hooked.”
What is your educational background?
In 1987, I got a B.A. in environmental science from the University of Virginia. While at UVA, I was a walk-on football player, an offensive lineman on UVA’s first ever post-season bowl team. This furthered my understanding of teamwork, how to work with people who were much more skilled than I was, and how to coach. I received master’s and Ph.D. degrees in environmental science from UVA in 1990 and 1996, respectively.
As an undergraduate in environmental sciences, I learned about global biochemical cycling — meaning how carbon and nitrogen move through the living and nonliving systems — while working on research teams in the Chesapeake Bay, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Amazon Basin.
Before graduating I had the good fortune to participate in the NASA Amazon Boundary Layer Experiment (ABLE-2B) in the central Amazon, which I used to kick off my graduate studies. I then focused on southern African aerosol emissions, transports and depositions for my doctoral studies that ultimately led to a university research fellow postdoc at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
What are some of your career highlights?
It has been a crazy journey!
While helping put up meteorological towers in the Amazon deep jungle, we would encounter massive squall lines. These storms were so loud as they rained down on the deep forest that you could not hear someone 10 feet away. One of the neatest things that I observed was that after the storms passed, we would see a fine red dust settling on top of our fleet of white Volkswagen rental vehicles in the middle of the rainforest.
That observation piqued my interest and led to a paper I wrote about Saharan dust being transported to the Amazon basin and its potential implications for the Amazon, especially regarding nutrient losses from the system. Our initial work suggested there was not enough input from Northern Africa to support the system’s nutrient losses. That caused us to start looking to Sub-Saharan Africa as a potential source of these nutritive species.
I finished my master’s during the first Persian Gulf War, and finding a job was challenging. During that phase I diversified my income stream by delivering newspapers and pizzas and also bouncing at a local nightspot so that I could focus on writing papers and proposals related to my research. One of my successes was the winning of a joint National Science Foundation proposal that funded my doctoral research to go to Namibia and examine sources of aerosol and trace gases as part of the larger NASA TRACE-Southern African Atmosphere Fire Research Initiative – 92 (SAFARI-92). We were based at Okaukuejo Rest Camp inside of Namibia’s Etosha National Park for the better part of two months. We characterized conservative chemical tracers of aerosols, their sources and long-range transport from biomass burning regions, which proved, in part, that Central Southern Africa was providing mineral and biomass burning emissions containing biogeochemically important species to far removed, downwind ecosystems thousands of kilometers away.
When I returned to Africa as a postdoctoral fellow, I was able to experience other countries and cultures including Lesotho, Mozambique, and Zambia. In 1997, NASA’s AERONET project was also expanding into Africa and I helped Brent Holben and his team deploy instruments throughout Africa in preparation for vicarious validation of instrumentation aboard NASA’s Terra satellite platform.
I returned to UVA as a research scientist to work for Chris Justice and his EOS MODIS/Terra validation team. I used this field experience and the international networks I developed, which contributed to my assuming the role of U.S. principal investigator for NASA’s Southern African Regional Science Initiative. Known as SAFARI 2000, it was an effort that involved 250 scientists from 16 different countries and lasted more than three years. When it ended, I became a research professor and began teaching environmental science and mentoring UVA students on international engagement projects.
Around 2000, I created a regional knowledge network called Eastern/Southern Africa Virginia Network and Association (ESAVANA) that leveraged the formal and informal structures and networks that SAFARI 2000 established. I used my team building and science diplomacy skills to pull together different regional university partners, who each had unique pieces for unlocking the larger puzzle of how southern Africa acted as a regional coupled human-natural system. Each partner had something important to contribute while the larger potential was only possible by leveraging their respective strengths together as a team.
I traveled extensively during this time and was supported in 2001 partially by a Fulbright Senior Specialist Award which allowed me to spend time at the University of Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo Mozambique to help them with hydrology ecosystem issues in the wake of massive floods. We kept the network alive by creating summer study abroad, service learning and intersession January educational programs that drew upon colleagues and their expertise from around the world that attracted new people, energy, and resources to ESAVANA. All of these efforts contributed to a “community of practice” focused on learning about the ethics and protocols of international research. The respectful exchange of committed people and their energies and ideas was key to the effort’s success. I further amplified the impact of this work by contributing my lived and learned experiences to the development of the first ever global development studies major at UVA.
In 2004, I had a bad car accident and as a result have battled back and hip issues ever since. After falling off the research funding treadmill, I had to reconfigure myself in the teaching and program consultant sector. I grew more into a teaching role and was recognized for it by UVA’s Z-Society 2008 Professor of the Year, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Virginia’s 2012 Professor of the Year, as well as my 2014 induction into UVA’s Academy of Teaching — all while technically a research professor. I was also heavily involved for almost a decade with the American Association for the Advancement of Science and its Center for Science Diplomacy and tasks related to activities such as reviewing the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research and teaching science diplomacy in short courses for the World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries located in Trieste, Italy, and the Academy of Science of South Africa.
I worked in the Earth Sciences Division at NASA Headquarters from 2014 to early 2017 as a rotating program support officer as part of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA), where I supported the atmospheric composition focus area. One of my responsibilities involved serving as a United States Embassy science fellow in the summer of 2015, where I went to Namibia to support one of our Earth Venture Suborbital field campaigns. I came to Goddard in April 2017 to help revector their nascent global network of ground-based, hyperspectral ultraviolet and visible instruments known as the Pandora.
What is your next big project?
I am currently working with the NASA Goddard Earth Science Division front office to craft a vision for the next 20 years, which involves the alignment of people around a process to achieve a desired product. With the field of Earth System Science changing so rapidly, we need to position ourselves within this ever evolving “new space” environment of multi-sectoral partners — governmental, commercial, not-for-profit, and academic — from the U.S. and beyond to study the Earth system. This involves working with other governmental agencies, universities and industrial partners to chart a way forward. We will have a lot of new players. We will be working with partners we never imagined.
We need people who know how to work across these different sectors. One such attempt to “grow our own timber” involves my development of an experimental version of the first NASA Student Airborne Research Program East Coast Edition (SARP and SARP-East), where student participants from a diversity of institutions of higher learning can see the power and promise of what NASA does, how we work together on big projects, and hopefully be inspired to take on the challenges of the future. In other words, I am pushing an exposure to field-based, Earth system science down earlier into their careers to expose them to what NASA does in an integrated fashion.
What assets do you bring to the Earth Science Division front office?
In 2020, I came to the Earth science front office to help lead the division. I make myself available across the division to help inspire, collect, suggest, and coach our rank and file into producing really cool mission concept ideas.
Part of why the front office wanted me is because I use the skills of relationship building, community building, and science diplomacy to make things happen, to create joint ventures. Having had to support myself for over 20 years on soft money, I learned to become an entrepreneur of sorts — to be scientifically and socially creative — and I was forced to look inward and take an asset-based approach. I look at all the forms of capital I have at hand and use those to make the best of what I have got. In Appalachia, there is an expression: use everything but the squeal from the pig.
Lastly, I bring a quick wit with a good dose of self-deprecating humor that helps me connect with people.
How do you use science diplomacy to make things happen?
Two of the things that bind people together about science are the process of inquiry and utilizing the scientific method, both of which are universally accepted. As such, they allow us to transcend national and cultural divides.
Science diplomacy works best when you start with this common foundation. Starting with this premise in collaborative science allows for conversations to take place focusing on what everyone has in common. You can have difficult conversations and respectful confrontations about larger issues.
Scientists can then talk and build bridges in unique ways. We did this with SAFARI 2000 while working in a region that had seen two major wars and the system of Apartheid within the previous decade. We worked across borders of people who were previously at odds. We did that by looking at something apart from national identity, which was Southern Africa. We focused on how a large-scale system functions and how to make something that incorporates 10 different countries operate as a unit. We wanted to conduct studies showing how the region operated as a functional unit while dealing with transboundary issues. It took a lot of community and trust, and we began with the science community.
What drives you?
I want to put knowledge into action to make a difference. I realize it is not about me, it is about “we.” That is why I came to NASA, to make a difference. There is no other agency in the world where we can harness such a unique and capable group of people.
What do you do for fun?
I enjoy watching sports. I still enjoy hiking, fishing, and tubing down the river. My wife and I like long walks through natural settings with our rescues, Lady, our black-and-tan coonhound, and Duchess, our long-haired German Shepherd Dog. They are our living hot water bottles in the winter.
My wife and I also like to cook together.
Who would you like to thank?
Without a doubt, it starts with my wife, family, and children whom without none of what I have accomplished would have been possible. I have had the good fortune to be able to bring them along on some of my international work, including to Africa.
I am also very grateful to all those people during my school years who stepped in and who did not judge me initially by my less than stellar grades. They gave me the chance to become who I am today.
Who inspires you?
There is an old television show that I really liked called “Connections,” by James Burke. He would start with a topic, go through the history, and show how one action led to another action with unforeseen consequences. He would take something modern like plastics and link it back to Viking times. Extending that affinity for connections, the Resilience Alliance out of Sweden also influences me with their commitment to showing connections and cycles.
My mentors at UVA were always open to serving as a sounding board. They treated me as a colleague, not a student, as a member of the guild even though I was still an apprentice. That left an indelible impression upon me and I always try to do the same. My doctoral mentor Mike Garstang said that he already had a job and that this job was to let me stand on his shoulders to allow me to get to the next level, which is my model.
Another person who was very formative during my early professional career was Jerry Melillo who showed me what it was like to be an effective programmatic mentor. I worked with him as his chief staffer of an external review of the IAI and learned a lot by watching how he ran that activity program.
With respect to NASA, a number of people come to mind: Michael King, Chris Justice, and Tim Suttles, as well as my South African Co-PI, Harold Annegarn, all of whom, at one time or another, took me under their respective wings and mentored me through the whole SAFARI 2000 process. From each of their different perspectives, they taught me how NASA works, how to engage, how to implement a program, and how to navigate office politics. And my sister and our conversations about leadership and what it means to be a servant leader. To be honest, there are scores more individuals who have contributed to my development that I don’t have the space to mention here.
What are some of your guiding principles?
Never lose the wonder — stay curious. “We” not “me.” Seeking to understand before being understood. We all stand on somebody’s shoulders. Humility rather than hubris. Respect. Be the change you wish to see.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
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Last Updated Nov 19, 2024 EditorMadison OlsonContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
People of Goddard Goddard Space Flight Center People of NASA Explore More
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