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Alex Young has a great finger on the weather. But the Associate Director for Science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center’s attention is focused far higher than any storm cloud. He studies space weather and...

Growing up in Chicago, Gary Jedlovec dreamed of running his own weather station and becoming the next great TV weather forecaster. However, that all changed when he discovered meteorological research. Now well into his career as the Chief of the...

From a childhood filled with archeology lessons from his dad, to graduate studies measuring gases from active volcanoes, and then designing early warning systems to detect volcanic activity, Dr. Florian Schwandner's life goal has been to make a difference in...

Paul Stackhouse is a sun chaser, but in his case it means measuring the surface radiation budget. This means figuring out how much sunlight gets to the surface of the planet, and takes a deep understanding of factors like cloud...

Richard Alley is a professor in glaciology and loves what he does. He talks about gathering ice cores from Antarctica as an undergraduate, only to return for his PhD and continue the work. He’s measured fallout from atomic bombs tests...

Cloud scientist Steven Platnick is trying to learn how clouds may magnify—or minimize—the effects of climate change. He first got excited about clouds when his Ph.D. advisor, who "treated us like equals," started asking questions about clouds. "He asked questions...

Nearing the end of her career, Anne Douglass, at NASA Godard Space Flight Center, has provided the scientific community with a better understanding of the ozone layer that protects us all from ultraviolet radiation. Anne describes the energy that it...

Kathy Cashman, professor at the University of Bristol, worked on the 1980 eruption at Mount St. Helen’s in Washington, one of the first monitored volcanic eruptions in the world (“it was a ‘who’s who’ of volcanology and geology”). Thanks to...

Stephen Running, an Emeritus Regent's Professor at the University of Montana, shares about his work with NASA studying the global ecosystem from space. Trying out a microscope at a young age ironically led him into a lifetime of looking at...

What starts as a conversation about arctic change is actually an all-encompassing discussion about career growth, patience, and personal growth. Walt Meier, National Snow, and Ice Data center, introduces us to Jackie Richter-Menge, US Arctic Research Commission, who has spent...

David Shiffman is a shark guy first, marine conservation biologist second. Sharks are in his Twitter handle, he’s writing a book about them, and he was wearing a shark shirt the day we interviewed him. We talked with David about...

Judy Pu is currently a grad student at the University of California, Santa Barbara studying Earth Science. We talked to her about moving forward from failure and criticism, the importance of education, and dealing with the loss of a mentor.

Sanjoy Som, Director of the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, believes in the importance of space science as a common goal of humanity, regardless of country – the founding inspiration of his institute. He talks about his passion for...

As a deputy section manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, Carmen Boening is keenly focused on rising with the tide. The trouble is, the water level isn’t going down as the climate warms. Partly through the monitoring of a set...

Todd Hoeksema solar physicists and senior research scientist at Stanford University shares his stories about the power of the sun, technology advances and its effects on society and younger generations. (Recorded 7 September 2018)

As a mission scientist with NASA's Operation IceBridge, John Sonntag has been keeping an eye on the polar ice caps for the better part of 20 years. The good news is, he is very well-versed in the science and analysis...

Bernard Chovitz has seen it all when it comes to geodesy. From before it was an official field in the early 40s to being one of many AGU sections today, Bernard talks about how the field and science in general...

Dawn Wright, ESRI and Mark Parsons, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, share with us their journeys into data mapping, and how the field has grown, including at AGU. Before AGU embraced mapping scientists, people were starting to leave AGU. Now, they’re back,...

Steve Montzka has been at NOAA for 28 years, working on atmospheric science, atmosphere chemistry, and trace gases in the atmosphere. He started there as a post-doc, drawn by the work he saw NOAA scientists doing on the hole in...

As the Scientific Visualization lead for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Mark SubbaRao oversees the translation of NASA science into images and movies. For Mark, science visualization is a key communication tool that allows the public to interact and explore...

The realization that a purple sunset in Wisconsin traced back to the 1991 volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines fueled Chip Trepte’s interest in the movement of volcanic aerosols in the upper atmosphere. “It was a stunning revelation...

Kristin Pratscher might have only recently received her Bachelor’s degree but she already has plenty of experience in her field of geology. From a field camp in Turkey to being part of the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (SAGE) program...

Christopher Shuman is on faculty at University of Maryland Baltimore County and a research scientist in the Cryospheric Sciences Lab at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Christopher has extensive work history in Greenland and in Antarctica, analyzing layers in...

Philips Aizebeokhai talks about the path his career has taken, turns and all. Although he started out working in the oil and gas industry, he found himself drawn to academia and the chance to be excited every day through his...

AGU Virtual Poster Showcase Winner Interview with Zenja Seitzinger, studying geology, at SUNY Geneseo