Meet a Researcher: Dr. Erik Vandegriff

Baltimore resident Dr. Erik Vandegriff (he/they) is a space physicist doing postdoctoral research at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center, where he works on modeling Earth's magnetic field and predicting how the Sun affects life and technology on Earth and in space.

[questions & answers lightly edited for clarity]

How long have you lived in Baltimore, and what is your favorite thing about the city?

I have lived in Baltimore for a year now. I grew up in Maryland, but left after high school. I moved back after I finished my doctorate. My favorite thing about Baltimore is all the parks! You don't have to drive far to get to nature and that's not the case with a lot of cities.

Can you briefly describe your area of research for our readers ?

I study space weather, which I like to describe as "weather, but higher up!"

Besides providing us with light, seasons, and sunburns, the sun is also constantly bombarding us with what we call "solar wind", which is a combination of the sun's magnetic field and the energetic particles that move along with it. Earth's magnetic field does its best to keep the solar wind at bay, but it gets distorted and allows particles through, especially with heavy solar activity. Space weather scientists study the variations in Earth's magnetic field using spacecraft data and computer models in order to predict and prepare for solar storms, which can shut down the power grid, damage spacecraft, and harm astronauts.

What is the one book, podcast, or documentary you would recommend to non-scientists who are interested in learning more about your field ?

If you want to get excited about space, the 2008 documentary "Journey to the Edge of the Universe" was a fun one for me growing up. It's old but it's a classic and puts in perspective just how big space really is.

Can you tell us about your favorite finding in your field, or a recent finding that you are excited about?

On the weekend of May 11th of this year, a large solar storm hit Earth, and throughout the weekend space weather scientists worked tirelessly to monitor the conditions in space and provide predictions about the safety levels in order to protect astronauts, satellites, and the power grid. Since then we've already been working on studying the storm in detail, running models and analyzing satellite data. Most of the storms I study are past ones, so it's really cool to watch a big storm happen live. And the best part is, as far as we know there were no power grid failures, thanks to the advance warning we were able to give and the mitigation efforts of the power industry professionals.

We’re interviewing you during Pride month, and just ahead of Baltimore trans Pride - do you have a message for queer kids who are interested in science ?

If you're a queer kid who is curious about science - follow that curiosity! You don't need an advanced degree to do good science. Being curious will take you far, and putting in the work to answer questions and build your knowledge of the world around you will take you the rest of the way. There's not always great queer representation in science, but don't feel discouraged, even if you feel like you're not the "smartest" or the "best" person to be a scientist. No one is! Do it anyway! Science is about being wrong over and over again until we figure something out.