MEET Mpho Tshisaphungo

THE WEATHER WOMAN OF THE MOMENT

Meet Mpho Tshisaphungo, the first female to head the Space Weather Centre at SANSA.

By: Chireez Fredericks

n her role at the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) in Hermanus, Mpho Tshisaphungo is responsible for coordinating and managing the Space Weather Centre – a position that’s surely the end goal for many in her field. What’s even more impressive is that she’s the first woman in SANSA’s history to take the lead.I Tshisaphungo and her team monitor space weather conditions in real-time. These documented conditions are then further analysed to prepare forecasts, warnings and alerts for government and private industry users.

She enjoys organising space weather courses, as well as training programmes in space weather forecasting. “We are also developing the training material for users in the aviation sector, this information has to be customised for their use.”

Tshisaphungo says she enjoys working at SANSA and that her team feels “like a family” to her. She emphasises the joy she finds in being a part of something much bigger than herself and encourages young people to find their talents. “Identify your strengths and focus on what you are good at,” she says to those who are trying to find their feet in a new career or in a new workplace.

When she is not immersing herself in her career or furthering her education, she enjoys dancing and spending time with her family – and she says she hasn’t strayed much from what was important to her in her younger years.

Growing up in Limpopo, Tshisaphungo notes that education has always been an important part of her life. “I never wanted to miss school, even when I was sick,” she recalls, and her fascination with numbers saw her excel in mathematics. Her passion for mathematics was one her parents supported. Although Tshisaphungo’s mother never completed her own education, she was always a good support system to her children, encouraging them to take pride in their schoolwork and ensuring they were well fed and equipped to do that.

As a child, Tshisaphungo wanted to work in chemistry as spending time in a lab and experimenting was what made her happiest. After high school, she applied to as many universities as she could and although she was accepted at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) for a degree in Chemistry, she did not have the required funding to enroll. She then applied for the Bachelor of Computer Science with Mathematics and Physics at the University of Venda in Limpopo.

But noting the lack of resources during her course, Tshisaphungo then decided that computer science was not for her and chose to follow her passion by completing her Bachelor of Sciences in Mathematics and Physics, despite not knowing what career prospects she would have.

After her third year, Tshisaphungo was looking for any opportunity to further her education, when she spotted a poster advertising the winter school in Hermanus. At that time, she had no idea what Space Weather was but she was intrigued and decided to apply anyway. She was accepted into the programme and by June 2006, she was on her way to the Western Cape. “During the winter school, I spent a lot of time with the SANSA researchers who recognised my potential and offered me an opportunity to continue my studies.”

Determined to pursue her interest, Tshisaphungo accepted SANSA’S offer to intern at the centre for six months. By December of that year, she applied for her honours degree in The National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme (NASSP) at the Universe of Cape Town. Once completing her honours, she was given the opportunity to become a space weather assistant and her career evolved from there.