Magnetometers

In this interview, Joanna Behrman, Assistant Public Historian for AIP, interviews Christopher Russell, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. Russell describes his childhood in Britain and Canada before attending the University of Toronto as an undergraduate. He describes his initial move to the University of California, Los Angeles, for his Ph.D. with Robert Holzer and then transitioning into more permanent positions there. Russell recounts his work studying geomagnetism and the solar wind on the OGO series, Apollo program, International Sun-Earth Explorer, and Pioneer Venus Spacecraft. Russell describes the changing scientific paradigm from an Earth-centric idea of geomagnetic activity to a solar wind centric theory. He recounts his work in the collaborations for the Galileo and Cassini missions with Margaret Kivelson and David Southwood. Russell then explains the motivation behind the NASA Discovery program and how he developed the Dawn mission. He reflects on the growth of UCLA as a locus for research in planetary and space sciences. At the end of the interview, he describes the wide range and impact of the collaborations he has been a part of. 

In this interview, Marcia McNutt discusses: current position as President of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in Washington, D.C.; mission, history, and structure of the NAS; NAS’s work on climate change and COVID-19; experience as a geophysicist; partnering with the National Academies of Engineering and Medicine; childhood in Minnesota; decision to study geophysics; graduate research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography; research on ocean island volcanism in French Polynesia and Hawaii; early use of magnetometers, gravity meters, and seismometers in oceanic plate tectonic observation; development of techniques to take gravity, bathymetry, or topography data on continent and use them in inversion to learn about topography; work directing Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI); time at US Geological Survey (USGS) under Ken Salazar; professorship at MIT and collaboration with Woods Hole; details of leading an oceanographic expedition in the Marquesas Islands; spearheading structural change at MBARI; MBARI-created autonomous device to identify microscopic ocean life without samples; MBARI-invented deep-sea laser Raman spectrometer; being the first organization to put AI on autonomous underwater vehicles to map plumes; response to the Deepwater Horizon spill; fracking; the National Water Census; decision to become editor-in-chief of Science; procedures as editor; career evolution; becoming president of NAS; transition from the Obama to Trump administrations; opinions on geo-engineering; Decadal survey; Koshland Science Museum and LabX; efforts to nominate and elect younger scientists and underrepresented minorities to the Academy; making recommendations to Congress; collaborations with the private sector; communication with the public; and the 2018 Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s report on sexual harassment in academia. Toward the end of the interview, McNutt reflects on her career as both scientist and leader and the importance of integrity in research.

In this interview, Joanna Behrman, Assistant Public Historian for AIP, interviews Margaret Kivelson, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Space Physics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Kivelson recounts her childhood in New York City and her decision to attend Radcliffe College. She describes her experiences attending graduate school at Harvard University and working with Julian Schwinger. Kivelson explains her decision to move out to California, to work at the RAND Corporation, and her efforts to secure a position at UCLA. Kivelson describes how UCLA became a hub for space physics research and her work on the magnetometers for various projects including OGO-5, Pioneer 11, and Galileo. Kivelson also discusses her work to improve the status of women in academia on the Harvard Board of Overseers and at UCLA.