Liz MacDonald explained

Liz MacDonald
Workplaces:Los Alamos National LaboratoryGoddard Space Flight Center
Alma Mater:University of New HampshireUniversity of Washington
Known For:Aurorasaurus

Elizabeth MacDonald is a space weather scientist who works at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She is a co-investigator on the Helium, Oxygen, Proton, and Electron Spectrometer on the NASA Radiation Belts Storm Probe mission.

Education

Elizabeth MacDonald was born in Walla Walla, Washington, to Bill and Alice MacDonald.[1] MacDonald received a BSc in physics from the University of Washington, funded by a NASA Space Grant scholarship, in 1999.[2] Her mentor, Ruth Skoug, encouraged her to remain in research.[3] MacDonald completed her postgraduate studies at the University of New Hampshire, earning her PhD in physics in 2004.[4]

Career

MacDonald specializes in plasma mass spectrometry, and has expertise in instrument development and data analysis and interpretation.

After completing her PhD, MacDonald joined Los Alamos National Laboratory. At LANL she was the principal investigator for the Z-Plasma Spectrometer on the Department of Energy Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System geosynchronous payload.[5] She also led the Innovative Research and Integrated Sensing team.[6] She was principal investigator for the Advanced Miniaturized Plasma Spectrometer.[7] She received the Los Alamos Awards Program recognition three times.[8]

Between 2009 and 2011 she led the Department of Energy funded Modular Advanced Space Environment Instrumentation. In 2012 she became a New Mexico Consortium-affiliated researcher, working on the prototype for the Aurorasaurus citizen science project.[9] She has served on scientific review panels for the National Science Foundation and Los Alamos National Laboratory grants.[10] Today MacDonald works in the Goddard Space Flight Center.[11]

In 2018 MacDonald and her team announced the discovery of a new aurora called Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE).[12] STEVE is farther from the poles than the aurora is typically seen.[13] The European Space Agency Swam A satellite was used to identify that the charged particles in STEVE were around 6000 °C. It was observed by Canadian aurora enthusiasts in 2015.[14] [15] MacDonald attributes the faint purple glow to a subauroral ion drift.[16] [17] MacDonald published the finding in Science.[18] She is working with NASA to crowd source sightings of STEVE.[19]

Awards and honors

In 2018, MacDonald was named as a Walla Walla Public Schools Graduate of Distinction as a "pioneer in citizen science initiatives and mentor for aspiring scientists of all ages".[20]

Public engagement

In 2016 in the journal Space Weather, MacDonald and co-workers reported that "citizen scientists are regularly able to spot auroras farther south of an area where prediction models indicated".[21] [22] [23] MacDonald leads an interdisciplinary citizen science project called Aurorasaurus, which uses social media to predict the Northern Lights during the current solar maximum.[24] [25] [26] To fund the program, she won a $1-million INSPIRE grant from the National Science Foundation together with Andrea Tapia of Pennsylvania State University and Michelle Hall of Science Education Solutions.[27] [28] [29]

After noticing a spike in tweets about an aurora borealis in October 2011, she established Aurorasaurus to track such geolocation information in order to improve forecasting, such as that done by NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.[30] [31] [32]

In August 2017, she spoke at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site about the 2017 solar eclipse.[33] MacDonald regularly speaks to high school students and community groups.[34] [35]

Notes and References

  1. News: Of celestial 'glitter bombs' and scientific research. Eveland. Annie Charnley. Union Bulletin. 2018-02-15. en.
  2. Web site: Bio - Dr. ELIZABETH A MACDONALD. science.gsfc.nasa.gov. en. 2018-02-15.
  3. News: A Physicist Explains The Shimmering Science Behind Auroras - Science Friday. Science Friday. 2018-02-15. en-US.
  4. Web site: Elizabeth A. MacDonald, CV, 2012. LANL. 2018-02-15.
  5. Web site: archive CSSP Bios Page. sites.nationalacademies.org. 2018-02-15.
  6. Web site: IRIS, ISR-1. www.lanl.gov. 2018-02-15.
  7. MacDonald. E. A.. Funsten. H. O.. Dors. E. E.. Thomsen. M. F.. Michelle Thomsen. Janzen. P. H.. Skoug. R. M.. Reeves. G. D.. Steinberg. J. T.. Harper. R.. 2009-06-01. New Magnetospheric Ion Composition Measurement Techniques. 2009AIPC.1144..168M. American Institute of Physics Conference Series. 1144. 1. 168–172. 10.1063/1.3169283.
  8. Web site: Elizabeth MacDonald, AGU Elections. American Geophysical Union. 2018-02-15.
  9. Web site: Dr. MacDonald's Aurora Research Featured. Talus. Carrie. newmexicoconsortium.org. en-gb. 2018-02-15.
  10. Web site: IRIS, ISR-1. www.lanl.gov. 2018-02-15.
  11. Web site: SMD Education :: Profile :: Elizabeth MacDonald. smdepo.org. 2018-02-15.
  12. News: There's a new aurora in subpolar skies. Its name is Steve. 2018-03-14. Science. AAAS. 2018-03-15. en.
  13. News: Meet 'Steve,' the Aurora-Like Mystery Scientists Are Beginning to Unravel. Space.com. 2018-03-15.
  14. News: Mystery of Purple Lights in Sky Solved With Citizen Scientists' Help. Garner. Rob. 2018-03-14. NASA. 2018-03-15. en.
  15. News: Canadian Amateurs Discovered a New Type of Aurora. It's Named Steve.. Meyer. Robinson. The Atlantic. 2018-03-15. en-US.
  16. News: Citizen Scientists Discover New Feature of the Aurora Borealis. Mandelbaum. Ryan F.. Gizmodo. 2018-03-15. en-US.
  17. News: Meet 'Steve,' a Totally New Kind of Aurora. https://web.archive.org/web/20180315021046/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/steve-auroras-identified-plasma/. dead. March 15, 2018. 2018-03-14. 2018-03-15.
  18. MacDonald. Elizabeth A.. Donovan. Eric. Nishimura. Yukitoshi. Case. Nathan A.. Gillies. D. Megan. Gallardo-Lacourt. Bea. Archer. William E.. Spanswick. Emma L.. Bourassa. Notanee. 2018-03-01. New science in plain sight: Citizen scientists lead to the discovery of optical structure in the upper atmosphere. Science Advances. en. 4. 3. eaaq0030. 10.1126/sciadv.aaq0030. 29546244. 5851661. 2375-2548. 2018SciA....4...30M.
  19. News: NASA Needs Your Help to Find Steve and Here's How. Garner. Rob. 2018-03-14. NASA. 2018-03-15. en.
  20. Web site: Press Release for 2018 Graduates of Distinction. 18 May 2018 .
  21. Web site: Dr. Liz MacDonald Archives - Weatherboy. Weatherboy. en-US. 2018-02-15.
  22. News: Dr. Liz MacDonald Talks Aurora, Space Weather, And Her Citizen-Science Project, Aurorasaurus [SCIENCE WORLD REPORT EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]]. Report. Science World. 2016-01-26. Science World Report. 2018-02-15. en-US.
  23. News: Citizen Scientists Help NASA Understand Auroras. Garner. Rob. 2016-03-07. NASA. 2018-02-15. en.
  24. Web site: Aurorasaurus - Reporting Auroras from the Ground Up. www.aurorasaurus.org. 2018-02-15.
  25. News: NASA scientists watch eclipse at PARI. Boyer. Jason. WLOS. 2018-02-15. en-US.
  26. MacDonald. E. A.. Case. N. A.. Clayton. J. H.. Hall. M. K.. Heavner. M.. Lalone. N.. Patel. K. G.. Tapia. A.. 2015-09-01. Aurorasaurus: A citizen science platform for viewing and reporting the aurora. Space Weather. en. 13. 9. 2015SW001214. 10.1002/2015sw001214. 1542-7390. 2015SpWea..13..548M. 120926334 .
  27. Web site: NSF Award Search: Award#1344296 - INSPIRE Track 1: Aurorasaurus - Citizen Scientists Experiencing the Extremes of Space Weather. www.nsf.gov. 2018-10-13.
  28. News: Case Study: Aurorasaurus. Crowd Consortium. 2018-02-15. en-US.
  29. News: Aurorasaurus: Citizens Share Real-Time Aurora Observations, Help NASA Researchers Better Understand The Phenomenon. Depra. Dianne. 2016-03-09. Tech Times. 2018-02-15. en.
  30. News: The Aurora Hunters Who Spend All Year Chasing the Lights. 2015-09-08. Atlas Obscura. 2018-02-15. en.
  31. News: With Breathtaking Pictures, Citizen Scientists Help Map Auroras. Daley. Jason. Smithsonian. 2018-02-15. en.
  32. Web site: Citizen science meets the aurora Geophysical Institute. www.gi.alaska.edu. en. 2018-02-15.
  33. Web site: Event (U.S. National Park Service). www.nps.gov. en. 2018-02-15.
  34. News: Space physicist details eclipse for Early College students. Mundhenk. Andrew. Hendersonville Times. 2018-02-15. en.
  35. News: Science Experiments for the Public during the Solar Eclipse - SciStarter Blog. 2017-08-16. SciStarter Blog. 2018-02-15. en-US.

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