I work in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa, where I am part of the Experimental Particles and Electric Field Group. Scientists at the University of Iowa have been involved in many NASA space science missions, including Voyager 1 and 2, Galileo, Polar, Cluster, Mars Express, Cassini, and the upcoming Juno and Radiation Belt Storm Probes missions. The building in which I work is named after James Van Allen, who was probably the most famous space scientist to work at the University of Iowa. Dr. Van Allen built a scientific instrument for Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite, and discovered the Van Allen Radiation Belts.

During a typical day at work, I might write a computer program to analyze data from satellites making measurements in the Earth’s magnetosphere. Sometimes I use web sites on the Internet to plot and download satellite data. I often read papers in scientific journals about the Earth’s magnetosphere written by scientists at other institutions. I also write papers about my own work. I attend weekly seminars given by students and scientists working in our department, as well as the occasional visiting scientist, to learn about their research. I have presented results from my research in these seminars, in order to get feedback on my work. A few times a year, I travel to conferences to give presentations on my work to scientists from around the world and exchange ideas with them. In order to obtain funding for my work, I also write proposals to NASA and the National Science Foundation.