"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...

“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...

“I liked the thorough teachers I had, because you work hard, but it helps you academically.” An interview with Bernardo and Anne Quidez

Anne Quidez interviews her father, Bernardo Quidez, about his career and research over the years. They talk about how science and data analysis have changed, becoming more accessible to students, and about Bernardo’s experiences in working for the government to...

"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...

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...

"I was one of those kids who always wanted to be a scientist." An interview with Egle Cekanaviciute.

Dr. Egle Cekanaviciute is a Principal Investigator and Research Scientist in the Radiation Biophysics Laboratory at the NASA Ames Research Center. She is also one of the Course Directors for STAR (Spaceflight Technologies, Application and Research), an intensive training course...

"If you really enjoy it [science], all the work will be worth it." An interview with Matthew Johnson.

Dr. Matthew Johnson's research is in atmospheric chemistry, a branch of atmospheric science, which looks at the composition and chemistry of Earth's atmosphere, such as aerosols and trace gas emissions, and how particles may impact human health. Dr. Johnson's research...

“I'm proud my…perseverance of curiosity has gotten me to be [with] people who talk about life in the universe.” Interview w/ Julia DeMarines

Julia DeMarines is a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley in the Earth and Planetary Science department, an educator at the Mentoring Academy, a National Geographic Explorer, and a science communicator who runs a space comedy event...

"There would not be life without geosciences." an interview with Dwayne Brown

How can scientists tell the story of science so that the public listens and understands? Dwayne Brown is the Senior Communication Officer for the Science Directorate at NASA and works with hundreds of scientists to communicate their ideas on television,...

“What I do is I make sure that data is accessible and we say discoverable… which is really important.” An Interview with Michele Thornton

When it comes to data archiving, Michele Thornton has you covered. As a Geospatial Data Professional for ORNL-DAAC, Michele ensures that NASA funded research is accessible not only to researchers out in the field but to a larger user community...

Geological stories run in families, inspiring the next generation. An interview with Alik Ismail-Zadeh, Ramesh Singh, and Ritesh Gautam

With experiences from Azerbaijan, India and the United States, three scientists discuss how they’ve shared their passion for science in society and data transparency from generation to generation. They hope future generations continue to use data to help people withstand...

"You just go wherever there are interesting patterns." An interview with Dr. Rama Nemani.

Dr. Rama Nemani, Senior Earth Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center, works on ecological forecasting. In this interview, we discuss how Rama’s career trajectory moved from farming to supercomputing, NASA Earth Exchange (NEX), the difference between simulation modeling and...

Challenger accident

I ask my mother about when the Challenger exploded on her birthday

“The measurements are telling us a critical component of climate change.” an interview with Norman Loeb

Clouds are among the most unpredictable components of climate models. But Norman Loeb is working hard to sort out the shape of cloud patterns in order to improve the accuracy of long-term weather predictions. As far as understanding how all...

"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...

"I got a little periodic table wallet card. So, I really am a card-carrying chemist." an interview with Jack Kaye

Jack Kaye, associate director for research at NASA's Earth Science Division, discuss his origins as a chemist and earth scientist, and how he was recruited to Goddard to be a chemist among meteorologists. "My boss would advertise me as his...

“I think it is important that people learn to trust the science of nuclear energy.” An Interview with Priya Ghosh

Priya Ghosh is an astrophysicist, nuclear engineer, and a postdoctoral researcher at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. There she builds and develops radiation detectors to detect neutrons and gamma rays, and also studies and analyzes cosmic ray data to better...

“I’ve always liked to push the frontier and that’s not easy.” An Interview with Giovanni Fazio

Giovanni Fazio is a senior physicist at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard-Smithsonian. In his decades-spanning career, he has been instrumental in several observational programs, from his work studying gamma rays using balloon-borne telescopes to his time as the Principal Investigator...

"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...

“We all have that dream of being the person who walks across plains on Mars." an interview with Jacob Bleacher

Jacob Bleacher has spent a great deal of time preparing for Mars and the moon, even though he has never left the Earth’s orbit. The research scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center is currently on detail at NASA Headquarters as...

"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...

"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...

"Points that fall off the curve are either a mistake or the Nobel Prize." an interview with Glenn Orton

Glenn Orton, a senior research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, discusses his career exploring the outer Solar System that started with the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions, and extended forward to Cassini and more recently Juno. Interested in space...