My interest in space developed during childhood. I’ve wanted to be an astronaut since I was around 10 or 11, and I’ve always loved science fiction books, shows, and movies. I developed a keen interest in space science during my undergraduate education, where I worked as a student research assistant in the Space Physics Research Laboratory (SPRL) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Working at SPRL helped me land a summer internship in space physics at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, and these introductions to space science ultimately resulted in my decision to attend the University of Colorado for my graduate studies and developing a thesis topic on Earth’s radiation belts for my PhD.
I’ve been studying the dynamics of relativistic electrons in Earth’s outer radiation belt for almost ten years now, since my graduate studies in Colorado. I’m quite interested in this topic since the radiation belts result from an efficient, natural particle accelerator that we have right here in near-Earth space.

Challenges in Space Exploration

This environment provides us with a remarkable opportunity to study various particle acceleration mechanisms, ultimately providing us with a better understanding of the Universe. Furthermore, the outer radiation belt is quite dynamic, and the competing source, loss, and transport mechanisms that drive the extreme variations in the outer belt present scientists with a very difficult and complex puzzle. Finally, energetic particles in Earth’s radiation belts pose a threat to spacecraft and astronauts, so understanding how the system works has many practical benefits.

Illustration of an aurora over the Earth.
Credit: NSSDC, Holzworth, Meng

The main issues that we face today as space scientists are the prohibitive costs of space missions, the enormity of the space environment (even just near-Earth!), and the resulting lack of a coherent network of multi-point observatories. Each spacecraft provides us with only a pinpoint of information from these vast systems, so the more spacecraft we have available, the better for developing a better global picture.

One of the major challenges of manned space exploration, in my opinion, would be mitigating the effects of galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles contributing to radiation dose of astronauts. We still haven’t developed an adequate shielding system for our spacecraft to operate in interplanetary space, but I think we will have to do so before considering a manned mission to Mars or the asteroid belt.

Keeping Balance

One of the major challenges I have faced so far in my career, is finding a healthy balance between my professional and personal lives. I have a beautiful and brilliant wife, and I have to make sure I keep her (and myself) happy! Since I love my work, though, and there are always more questions to answer, making sure I don’t work too much can be quite the challenge.

If I may offer an advice for young scientists starting their careers now, this would be the following: if one is indeed talented then really it comes down to committing time to a particular problem, focusing on that problem and possible solutions/explanations, and producing and publishing scientifically sound results. If a scientist develops a reputation for such work, then they should have a successful career.

So I would say: Enjoy what you have and focus on the positive, and find a good balance for yourself between work and personal life!

Personally, I’m planning on continuing my research into particle acceleration in Earth’s radiation belts and ion foreshock at UCLA. Eventually, I hope to teach as a professor at a top university.