"It's hard to isolate cause and effect – we have to take nature on its own terms." an interview with Mary Hudson and William Lotko

Mary Hudson and Bill Lotko are both professors at Dartmouth University and researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Both study space physics, with Mary focusing on Van Allen radiation belts, and Bill looking at interactions between the magnetosphere...

"I originally wanted to restore paintings, but that didn't work out." an interview with Bärbel Hönisch

Bärbel Hönisch, Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences at Columbia University also known as Queen of Boron, transported us millions of years beyond the ice cores to the realm when Greenland had no ice. She took hold of a magical instrument...

"Starting Out in Science Before Your First Birthday." an interview with Nicola Fox

Just a few short months ago, Nicola Fox took over as Director of NASA’s Heliophysics Lab. She’d been prepping for the role a lifetime, however, recounting how she started her scientific career when she was eight months old, thanks to...

"It was fun to think about how all the puzzle pieces fit together. How is this organization going to work?" An Interview with Anita Dey

Anita Dey is the strategic partnerships manager of outreach and engagement for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and co-chair of NASA headquarters' Asian American and Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group. Anita spends her days working with underserved communities and using the...

"A Label by Any Other Name." an interview with Andrew Binley and Lee Slater

A conversation between student and professor, this discussion reveals the subtle dynamics between good friends, even when they outwardly seem to be very similar. Lee Slater met Andrew Binley when the former asked the latter for a job at Lancaster...

"When something changes your understanding, that's why you go into this field." an interview with Brian Day

Brian Day, of NASA’s Solar System Exploration Virtual Institute, leads a group of scientists in visualization and analysis of spacecraft data. Brian was taught that there’s no water on the moon, there’s no atmosphere on the moon, and the moon...

“Apollo 11….That's when I said, I don't have to be a businessman, I don't have to go into the military." an interview with Michael Meyer

Michael Meyer, NASA's Chief Scientist for the Mars Exploration Program, talks about his life and work in science. As a teenager working as a deckhand on a treasure diving boat in Florida, he was hired to replace some fired divers...

"Working Together to Prepare for the Unknown." an interview with Gari Mayberry

For the last 14 years, Gari Mayberry has put her volcanology background to work as a disaster response coordinator at USAID. Disasters come in many shapes and sizes so that specialty is a start, but often Gari finds herself connecting...

"Science is the factor that leads to a better human life." an interview with Ana Jeleapov

Ana Jeleapov studies landscape geography and hydrology at the Institute of Ecology and Geography in Moldova. She and a small team of scientists are trying to decrease flooding in Moldova. “Floods are a natural phenomenon” with sometimes deadly impact on...

“How is it that we collect stories [and] create spaces for those stories to be told?” An interview with Michele Koppes and Heidi Roop

Michele Koppes and Heidi Roop met “on an incredible landscape on the edge of the Greenland ice sheet about two years ago.” The conversation that followed made both of them think more closely about the value of science communication and...

“Embracing the different kinds of scientists that exist is something that we're still working to do.” An interview with Kiya Riverman

Kiya Riverman ended up studying glaciers because, on a field work trip, she was one of the few who could fit the ice cave in the glacier. She recalls, “you're surrounded by glaciers and then sometimes you're underneath glaciers. And...

If you're complaining, you better come back here and try and help us [with climate change policy]." an interview with Michael MacCracken

Michael MacCracken, chief scientist with the Climate Institute came to Washington, DC supposedly for one year, to help ten different agencies involved in climate research to work better together. He stayed for nine years, becoming the liaison to Vice President...

"Choosing the Science of Decision-Making" an interview with Roger Pulwarty and Michael Hayes

Why do people feel they way they do about issues? Why do lawmakers and policy leaders seemingly act against their better interests? And how can information be developed in a way that leads not just to greater understanding, but to...

"Finding New Ways to Build the Paleo Story." an interview with Melanie Perello

There’s a bit of a culture change moving from Ohio to New Hampshire, which Melanie Perello, Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University, did as part of her studies. Would you be surprised that going from either to Tibet to study paleoclimate...

"Celestial events are always a winner.” an interview with Kristen Erickson

Kristen Erickson, Director of science engagements and partnership, recently helmed NASA’s efforts to involve over 154 million adult Americans with direct participation with the 2017 total eclipse – the largest engagement effort in NASA history. But in her more than...

"It's just amazing to go to a new place in the solar system and discover someplace new." An interview with Paul Mahaffy.

Dr. Paul Mahaffy is the director of NASA's Solar System Exploration Division at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Raised in Eritrea, Paul became fascinated with the diversity of life at a young age, but did not have his sights set...

“One of the most rewarding parts of my job has been opportunities to mentor people like you” An interview with Linda Geiser and Peter Nelson

Linda Geiser and Peter Nelson tell their own stories and reflect on the impact they’ve had on each other lives. They’re both currently with the US Forest Service but first met when Linda hired Peter after he finished university to...

"I learned from watching tv that you could make a living working with weather and how cool is that?" an interview with George Huffman

George Huffman calls himself a classic weather person, in part because by the fourth grade in North Central Ohio, he already was excited about the prospect that you could make a job studying weather. At the NASA Goddard Space Flight...

"We must never forget about the free-thinking in science." an interview with Chris Ballentine

Chris Ballentine, University of Oxford, discusses his work as "helium hunter," seeking global reserves of Helium, significant as a natural resource-limited in its scope. Chris discusses geopolitics and the need for the market to drive the search for helium which...

"Geoscience investigates the past, it measures the present, and it models the future behavior of our planet."

AGU Virtual Poster Showcase Winner with Marlene Vargas-Sanchez, master’s student in earth science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

"Titan is a natural laboratory in synthesis of organic chemicals." an interview with Connor Nixon

Conor Nixon, a space scientist at NASA--Goddard Space Flight Center, discusses his work studying the outer planets. Watching the Cosmos show growing up interested him in the solar system and he's been studying the outer planets most of his life....

"Using space to help us dream.” an interview with Margaret Kivelson with Fran Bagenal

In begin in 1979, when Margaret Kivelson, UCLA, was part one of three women presenting a talk in which Fran Bagenal, University of Colorado Boulder, was sitting in the audience. They have been space scientists and collaborators for many years...

"If you want something bad enough, you can work hard and get it or you can at least try." An Interview with Shobhana Gupta.

Dr. Gupta was unsure of what she wanted to work on after finishing medical school, but she found her calling and is now the Open Innovation and Community Applications manager at NASA headquarters. Listen to Dr. Gupta talk about her...