A View From Earth

While the science behind human-caused climate change is undeniable, many people wonder how much of a difference they can make in the fight against it. While individual actions are helpful, educating people about the causes and solutions is imperative to any sustained effort to reverse the damage. Our guest this week specializes in using research-informed performance art to convey climate science to youth and adults around the world and teaches young women how to use civic activism as a tool for engaging environmental science communication.

Dr. Beth Osnes is a CU professor who combines a passion for environmental and climate science with a profession in theater and dance. Osnes is co-founder and co-director of Inside the Greenhouse, an endowed initiative at CU Boulder to celebrate creative climate communication through film, theater, dance and music. Her original musical, Shine, weaves together climate science and performance art into a fun and powerful story, which spans 300 million years of geological time to convey how humanity, energy, and climate are interrelated.

When you think about pictures of objects in space, you might think of legendary telescopes like Hubble or famous spacecraft like Voyager. It’s true that scientists rely heavily on imaging from telescopes and spacecraft, but astrophotographers are advancing imaging technology and providing us with amazing pictures of nebulas, clusters, planets, and more! This week, AVFE talks with one astrophotographer about technology, travel, and the intricacies of getting a good night sky photo.

Chris Scherpenseel was born and raised in Colorado. At the age of 14, he traveled to New Zealand to live with his father. Seeing the natural beauty of another country sparked his interest in travel and photography. While attending the University of Colorado at Boulder, his interest and passion in astronomy was fueled by courses taken in astrophysics. Today as a night sky photographer, he uses his camera to capture epic landscapes and legendary skies.

Attached is one of Chris's more recent images from Dinosaur National Monument in September 2020. He said, "Unfortunately the skies were filled with smoke from the wildfires here in Colorado and out west. Nevertheless, I shot this image near a campsite in Dinosaur called Echo Park. It was taken at the old Chew family homestead. The site is a historic site and was donated by the Chew family several decades ago to be part of Dinosaur National Monument. When Tara asked the question about historic sites, it didn't immediately come to mind -- but in fact it is. Although there is a lot of haze and smoke in the sky, you can still see some of the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy in the upper right corner. I call it Raise the Roof."

It’s true that most interplanetary spacecraft are large and expensive, requiring teams of thousands for their creation, launch, and monitoring. But just like computers, phones, and other electronic devices, satellites are becoming smaller and more efficient all the time. CubeSats are small, inexpensive, and an increasingly popular way for scientists to get the data they want without waiting decades for a big mission approval. In this episode, we talk to a LASP engineer involved in all aspects of CubeSat missions about how their compact size and increased accessibility is revolutionizing how we explore the solar system.

Dr. James Mason builds and flies small satellites for NASA. His first hands-on experience came as a PhD student in the aerospace engineering sciences department at CU Boulder, which he continued after graduating as a postdoc at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and now back at CU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. He’s worked on 17 CubeSats to date, which have observed everything from solar explosions to exoplanet host stars. He’s contributed to the engineering, fabrication, communications, operations, science, and outreach in these missions and is now the principal investigator leading a CubeSat called SunCET.

Any scientist will tell you that doing science is only part of the job; being able to communicate your scientific findings to the world is just as important. Here at A View From Earth we love talking to people whose prime job is communicating science and inspiring curiosity, and who better to tell us about that than Kari Byron! In our Season 3 premiere episode, our conversation with Kari covers everything from the ties between art and science to using your platform to educate and inspire, to having a global perspective on education, and of course, a bit of Mythbusters nostalgia.

Kari Byron has been a strong presence in the world of reality-based science and travel television for over a decade. She broke into the industry as a host on Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters but has gone on to host and produce shows spanning several networks. She is also a strong advocate for science accessibility and universality, as well as for young women in science. Her first book, Crash Test Girl: An Unlikely Experiment in Using the Scientific Method to Answer Life's Biggest Questions, is on shelves now. Her newest series, Crash Test World, premiered on the Science Channel on January 8th.

Here we are at the end of 2020. We at A View From Earth thought that there was too long of a break between seasons 2 and 3, so we decided to make this holiday special.

Our guests for this episode are: Us! That's right, we interview ourselves. We talk about how each of us got to Fiske and got involved with the podcast as well as where we hope the show goes in the future. We also talk about what we do when not making the show!

So far on our podcast, we’ve talked with tons of people who are interested in what it takes to make space a viable habitat for humans. This week, we turn the mic over to one of those very humans! In this episode, we’ll be talking with a real live astronaut about what it takes to succeed in the position, his time on (and outside!) the ISS, and what life is like after you’ve been IN SPACE.

Col. Astronaut Dr. Jim Voss is a retired United States Army colonel and NASA astronaut. During his time with NASA, Voss flew in space five times on board the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. He also served as deputy of Flight Operations for the Space Station Program Mission Integration and Operations Office. While participating in ISS Expedition 2, he and Susan Helms conducted an 8-hour and 56 minute spacewalk, the longest to date. He is currently a Scholar In Residence at CU Boulder.

No one becomes an astrophysicist overnight. For most professionals, it requires years of study, research, mentorship, and self-discipline. Luckily, there is a whole field of research dedicated to finding the best and most effective way to teach astronomy to students, whether they are looking to make it a career or just want an interesting way to fulfill a transcript requirement. Our guest this week gives us an inside look at what it’s like to teach astronomy, how education has evolved as a science, and how new generations of teachers and students are making astronomy more exciting and accessible than ever.

Dr. Seth Hornstein is a senior instructor at CU Boulder and the Observatory and Education Director at Sommers-Bausch Observatory. He serves as lead mentor for undergraduate astronomy majors with career interests in teaching and is the department coordinator for the Learning Assistant program (a university-wide program to recruit and prepare talented science majors for careers in teaching). Since 2008 he has been working with the Center for Astronomy Education's Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) team and the STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) program. In addition to his research in astronomy education, he has also worked on infrared observations of the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center.

Ep 15: Digging Up The Truth With Craters

You may not think that a big hole in the ground could be a fascinating study, but to a cratering expert it is just that. Craters are found on almost every body in the solar system, and they’re useful tools for exploring the surfaces of far away planets and moons, giving us clues about the history, composition, and currently active processes happening on the surface. This week, we’re talking with an award-winning crater buff about her work on bodies like Europa, Pluto, and Charon, and what sort of interesting things we can learn about these places just by looking at their craters (or lack thereof).

Dr. Kelsi Singer is a planetary scientist with Southwest Research Institute specializing in the geology and geophysics of planetary bodies. Her most recent contributions have been as a co-investigator and deputy project scientist on the New Horizons mission, working in operations and on the geology and geophysics team. She recently received the Harold C. Urey Prize from the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences; the prize is the highest DPS honor for a young planetary scientist, recognizing outstanding achievements in planetary research.

Missions to Mars might seem a dime a dozen these days, but why doesn’t anyone ever talk about going to Venus? Turns out, it’s really, really hard! Venus may be closer to Earth than Mars is, but its toxic atmosphere and hellish temperatures make it a challenging place to visit. But with recent advances in technology, it may not be impossible! In this episode, we talk with a lifelong proponent of Venus exploration about a new push for Venus missions and their chances for success. What can we learn, and what will we find? He might have some ideas!

Dr. Larry Esposito has been a professor of planetary science at CU Boulder since 1977. He was highly involved with the Cassini mission to Saturn, as well as the earlier Voyager and Pioneer missions. He even discovered a new ring around Saturn! Dr. Esposito has also been a participant in numerous US, Russian and European space missions and used the Hubble Space Telescope for its first observations of the planet Venus.

Have you ever thought about how GPS works? Or how your phone always knows the correct time? You may know that satellites are involved, but keeping all those satellites functioning together requires incredibly precise timing. An atomic clock uses vibrations of atoms much like a grandfather clock uses a pendulum, only this pendulum swings nine billion times every second! And one of these clocks is right here in Boulder! This week we’re chatting with an atomic clock technician...a Time Lord, if you will...whose job is to keep that atomic clock ticking so you don’t miss your next important meeting.

Andrew Novick is a Denver-based artist, musician, director, photographer, collector, Casa Bonita connoisseur, and many other things...but he is also an electrical engineer in the Time & Frequency Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder (NIST). Andrew has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1992. He has worked at NIST in the Time and Frequency Division since he was a college freshman. He has published several papers in time metrology, including network timing and common-view satellite time comparisons. He works on real-time remote frequency and time calibrations and is in charge of the official United States web clock.