"The things that make me proud are working every day to make life better for the people around me. "

Paths Through Science Interview for AGU's Centennial with Carolyn Brinkworth, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

"Science is the engine that drives civilization." an interview with James Butler

James Butler has studied atmospheric chemistry, ozone depletion for over thirty years. Now, as the Director of NOAA’s global monitoring, he helps direct research into the hole in the ozone layer and climate change. He knows firsthand that we have...

“People don't fully understand what climate science is. It's a significant achievement to make them aware.” An interview with Bidyut Goswami

Bidyut Bikash Goswami has found that people are very interested in his field of climate science and meteorology, even if they don’t fully understand it at first. He notes that people tend to assume that climate science means climate change...

"We're really just scratching the surface about how the earth works." an interview with Daniel Minguez

Daniel Minguez, a geophysicist for Chevron, helps create new geologic models of the earth’s layers, trying “to build geologic stories for how different geologic elements got there.” Daniel discusses his work which focuses on boring techniques and navigating plate tectonics....

"The atmosphere is one of the most complex processes in nature." an interview with Luke Oman

As a child, Luke Oman was always looking out the window. Today, he works on atmospheric processing for NASA. How do volcanic eruptions affect everyday life? What happens when sulfur dioxide gases from volcanoes interact with sulfate aerosol and stay...

"The Story of a GeoHealth Friendship" an interview with Geoff Plumlee and Aubrey Miller

In the mid-1990s, the town of Libby, MT, discovered they had a serious problem. The small town of fewer than 3000 people had reported over 300 fatalities from asbestos contamination. Enter Aubrey Miller, from the EPA, and Geoff Plumlee, from...

"When we met, it was a Reese's Peanut Butter moment: we had the peanut butter & he had the chocolate." an interview with David Young

David Young, Director of Science at NASA Langley Research Center, discusses his life's work studying the earth's climate. After an early interest in astrophysics, he focused in on earth science due to his desire to do research to help humans....

"Kicking and Perturbing Your Way to Discovery." an interview with Doug Jerolmack

The next time you see a young kid skateboarding through the neighborhood, possibly listening to punk rock on their earbuds, remember that one day that kid could be your local science professor. Doug Jerolmack’s sturdy voice and love of experimenting...

"I love to solve puzzles. The more pieces of the puzzle you get, the larger the puzzle becomes. " an interview with Ingrid Hendy

Ingrid Hendy, Professor at the University of Michigan and section president-elect, shares stories about discoveries in her field and the challenges she faced. She reflected on the curious zebra striped sediment that lured her into her field – mud she...

"It’s really amazing how difficult it is to study something like the ocean." An interview with Ved Chirayath

Dr. Ved Chirayath is the director of the Laboratory for Advanced Sensing (LAS) in the Earth Science Division at NASA Ames Silicon Valley. There, he develops and invents new instruments for NASA missions on Earth and in space, with much of his current work focusing on creating technology that will increase our...

“It's hard to say what's going to get invented and eventually end up being in everyone's homes.” An interview with Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson is an AGU member who has been coming to Fall Meeting for years. He discusses some of the keynotes he’s attended in recent years, like those by Jerry Brown, Elon Musk, and Dan Rather. A sci-fi enthusiast, Richard...

“We’re looking forward to the evolution of missions to the outer solar system.” an interview with Glenn Orton

Glenn Orton is so deep in Jupiter mission information that he gets envious when he’s not involved in a space project studying the gas giant. The senior research scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory studies the composition and structure...

"Something I learn today is something that [could help] society tomorrow." an interview with Patrick Taylor

While Patrick Taylor spends a huge chunk of his time in the clouds, his work has nothing to do with daydreaming. The Research scientist at NASA’s Langley Research Center is working on understanding more about the role of clouds in...

What’s My Motivation, Said Neither of These Two Ever. An interview with Lucy Jones and Wendy Bohon

Seismologist Lucy Jones gained recognition for doing a TV interview following the 1992 Joshua Tree earthquake while holding her sleeping infant son. Long before that, she became one of the first American scientists to enter China after it’s normalization in...

"Science is a universal language, which helps us bridge language and cultural gaps." an interview with Emily Wolin

Emily Wolin is almost singe-handedly trying to upgrade Myanmar’s national seismic network. As a student, Emily saw the Mount Saint Helens eruption. Today, she helps scientists in Myanmar prepare their country for the aftermath of the next hurricanes to come...

"We’re constantly inventing new ways to use our data for societal benefits.” an interview with Sandra Cauffman

Sandra Cauffman was told growing up in Costa Rica that she couldn’t be an electrical engineer because she was a woman. Decades into a career which has largely involved getting her hands dirty building instruments to fix on spacecraft, the...

"Most of these happenings have been because technology became available that could realize the vision." An interview with Eric Lindstrom.

Meet Eric Lindstrom, a former Physicial Oceanographer for NASA who now works with Saildrone, Inc to map the ocean floor. Eric spent his first day at the beach when he was 3 days old and has been fascinated with marine...

"The most important tool for an aspiring snow scientist is being able to use a shovel." Jeff Dozier talks with Ph.D. student, Mikey Johnson

Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara speaks with Ph.D. candidate in the Hydrogeology program at the University of Nevada, Reno.

“You get the space bug and … it just opened a whole new world to me. " An interview with Delia Santiago-Materese.

Delia Santiago-Materese is a program scientist at the NASA’s Planetary Space Division in Washington, D.C., where she helps facilitate science and works with the community to make decisions about where NASA’s scientists should be exploring next. She spends her days...

“It's very exciting to think about how we can have more voices at the table." An interview with Cynthia Hall

Cynthia Hall is the community coordinator for NASA’s Transform to Open Science program, where she works with organizations and communities to build diverse scientific collaborations with NASA. She works to make scientific research and processes more inclusive and accessible to...

"It was not a straight line." an interview with Denis-Didier Rousseau

Denis-Didier Rousseau, Senior Research Scientist at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and Fall Meeting Program Committee Chair shares how at six years old he set the goal to be a paleontologist. He discusses how that has shaped his life...

"The sun kind of affects everything here on Earth in one way or another." An interview with Nicholeen Viall.

Nicholeen Viall is a research astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, with her research focus being the sun and solar wind. Listen to Dr. Viall talk about her start in space science, her greatest accomplishment, and her hopes for...