- What inspired you to become a space scientist?
I always liked maths and science at school, and I went to university with aspirations to be a theoretical physicist. It quickly became apparent that was far too abstract for me, and I chose to focus on Earth Sciences instead (mostly because it involved spending a lot of time outdoors and quite a bit of beer drinking!).
I loved learning about how our planet formed, and later on in my degree I got the opportunity to study meteorites, and I haven’t looked back. I’m totally fascinated with the diversity of ways in which planets can form, and the number of factors that need to align for there to be any hope of them hosting life.
- When you go punting, would you stand in the front or in the back of the punt?
This is a tricky one! I was a student in Cambridge, where everybody punts from the back and I have to confess I still think of this as the ‘correct’ way even though I live in Oxford now! I also never got the hang of punting, so whichever end I stand – we’re guaranteed to crash!
- What’s your favourite planetary body?
I really love the Moon – partly because you can look up and see it so clearly, including all the mare basalts and craters on the surface. I love that our Moon formed in such an unusual way – it’s so cool to look up in the sky and see the product of a giant impact event! The Moon also has a really interesting magnetic field history and is the subject of much debate among planetary magnetists. But I also love the Earth – I’m so curious to know how unique it is as a planet, and how many Earth-like bodies exist in the universe.
- Magnetism is something we can’t even see. Why do we need to study it?
Magnetism is one of the only planetary properties that allows us to look deep into planetary interiors. Planets generate magnetic fields when their metallic cores, which are electrically conductive, undergo vigorous convection. This is a really useful observation, because by looking at magnetic field records trapped by rocks at the surface, we can understand when a core formed and its dynamic history. This in turn provides really useful insight into things like the core’s crystallization history and composition. Magnetic fields also protect the surface of planets from the solar wind and cosmic radiation – under certain conditions they can protect planetary atmospheres from escaping to space, and I’m currently interested in investigating whether they can actually control the evolution of atmospheric compositions over time. It’s generally thought that having a magnetic field is very helpful if you want to host life on a planetary surface – so they’re really important to understand!
- What is something we can learn about the Earth from looking beyond it?
The Earth has active plate tectonics, so much of its early history has been completely overprinted as the crust is recycled. It’s therefore really helpful to look at other planetary bodies, like Mars for example, to understand what Earth may have looked like Billions of years ago. Studying the magnetic field histories of small planetary bodies, like the Moon or asteroids, is also really useful because they have cooled much faster and have much shorter core dynamo histories. So, they’re useful laboratories for understanding the diversity of ways in which planets can generate magnetic fields and to predict how Earth’s magnetic field may behave in the future.
- Do you value science communication?
Yes, I think science communication is one of the most important parts of my job as a scientist. To answer really big science questions – like how and why Earth appears to be the only inhabited planet in our solar system – requires us to work across disciplines. It’s really important that we can explain ideas and concepts to scientists in other fields such as Astrophysics, Biology and Chemistry in order to properly understand all the factors at play and how they might influence each other. We all have so much to learn from each other just by bringing new and different perspectives together.
Communication with the wider public is also hugely important – I’m particularly passionate about inspiring girls and young women to study maths and science, and to pursue careers in areas that have traditionally been thought of as male-dominated. It’s also important to give the public an opportunity to engage with fundamental science – so much of it is government funded, and I think we have a duty to explain why it’s important and why rigorous scientific study is trustworthy at a time when we’re all surrounded by so much ‘fake news’.
- What do you hope to gain from your stay at ISSI?
I’m really excited to be based at ISSI given the very high number of visiting scientists from a wide range of backgrounds who I will have the opportunity to interact with. I’m particularly excited to learn more from space scientists about the interaction between the magnetic field, the atmosphere and the solar wind. While lots of space scientists think about the present day, I am interested in thinking about how these interactions have changed throughout Earth’s history and I think that will be a really fun challenge to explore. I hope I will have the chance to form lots of exciting new collaborations during my stay!
- Have you been to ISSI before?
I was part of an ISSI International Team in 2022 and 2023 when we worked on “How Heavy Elements Escape the Earth: Past, Present, and Implications to Habitability“. I got involved in this collaboration after meeting Dr Raluca Ilie when I was a postdoc at MIT. It had never even occurred to me that someone working in an Electrical Engineering department might have the tools to answer questions I was interested in about the role of Earth’s magnetic field in atmospheric escape. I met a lot of very cool scientists through that team, and it opened my eyes to completely new areas of science. I can’t wait to get involved in more collaborations like this, and to have so much dedicated time to explore new ideas.
- What do you look forward to coming to Bern (apart from science)?
I’m a keen trail runner and hiker so I can’t wait to be near the mountains. I also love chocolate and cheese – so I think I will be very well suited to living in Bern!
