Heliophysics Division Director Joe Westlake (Full Length)

Heliophysics Division Director Joe Westlake (Full Length)

Narration:

Transcript:

00:00:01,134 --> 00:00:03,069

One of my favorite memories

00:00:03,069 --> 00:00:06,239

as a kid was just these beautiful, very,

very dark nights.

00:00:08,575 --> 00:00:09,542

It's amazing to be able

00:00:09,542 --> 00:00:13,747

to see the Milky Way,

but also be able to see faint aurora

00:00:13,913 --> 00:00:16,916

as a dance across the sky

and things like that.

00:00:17,584 --> 00:00:21,421

I remember as a teenager

sitting with friends and looking up

00:00:21,554 --> 00:00:24,557

at the dark sky and asking yourself

the question of what's out there.

00:00:24,858 --> 00:00:28,294

It's just such a big, wide

open space for exploration.

00:00:29,295 --> 00:00:31,498

Hi, my name is Joe Westlake

and I'm the director

00:00:31,498 --> 00:00:33,700

for the Heliophysics Division at NASA.

00:00:34,501 --> 00:00:36,603

I think the biggest thing to be excited

about in my new

00:00:36,603 --> 00:00:39,873

role is working

with the wonderful Heliophysics team.

00:00:40,473 --> 00:00:44,878

That vibrant community really enables

so many amazing things

00:00:45,078 --> 00:00:47,213

and I'm really excited

to be able to engage with

00:00:47,213 --> 00:00:49,182

all these people that are just so

energetic about the

00:00:49,182 --> 00:00:50,150

science that we're doing.

00:00:51,351 --> 00:00:53,787

Heliophysics

as a discipline is blossoming.

00:00:53,787 --> 00:00:56,423

We're in a position

now where there are so many missions,

00:00:56,423 --> 00:01:00,260

so many instruments, so many technologies

that are coming out of Heliophysics

00:01:00,260 --> 00:01:00,994

right now

00:01:00,994 --> 00:01:04,564

and NASA in general,

that we need to be able to support

00:01:04,564 --> 00:01:07,367

our people so that they can be excited

to come to work every day

00:01:07,667 --> 00:01:10,637

so they can be a part of these impactful

missions.

00:01:11,871 --> 00:01:16,009

Throughout my career,

especially when I was an undergraduate

00:01:16,009 --> 00:01:20,713

and as a graduate student, my mentors

have been the people that I rely on.

00:01:20,713 --> 00:01:25,018

I spend a lot of time working closely

with people who have lots of experience

00:01:25,018 --> 00:01:29,923

in the field. And in the end, that path,

that journey that I took was not linear.

00:01:29,923 --> 00:01:33,393

It's one of these,

you know, random walks to figure out

00:01:33,393 --> 00:01:36,396

what I liked,

what I wanted to do, what inspired me.

00:01:36,563 --> 00:01:40,767

And that's something that I think,

you know, the entire community finds.

00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:45,004

You find yourself going from mission

to mission, or going from topic to topic

00:01:45,004 --> 00:01:48,408

and figuring out what excites you,

what lights a spark, what

00:01:48,675 --> 00:01:53,580

what do you enjoy,

and what gives you that sense of inquiry.

00:01:53,580 --> 00:01:56,583

The sense of,

you know, newness and excitement.

00:02:01,254 --> 00:02:02,722

I had an opportunity to be a

00:02:02,722 --> 00:02:06,326

part of the Heliophysics

community first in the MMS mission.

00:02:07,594 --> 00:02:10,363

In that time I was an instrument

scientist, so I took great

00:02:10,363 --> 00:02:13,466

care in understanding how the instrument

00:02:13,466 --> 00:02:18,571

performed. Producing quality data sets,

producing things that the community

00:02:18,571 --> 00:02:21,341

could actually do

the science that needs to be done

00:02:21,341 --> 00:02:24,210

and producing the products

that needed to get done in order

00:02:24,210 --> 00:02:27,213

for scientists to ask the questions.

00:02:27,413 --> 00:02:32,519

And so as part of that MMS experience,

I was able to take instrumentation

00:02:32,519 --> 00:02:34,120

from when it was on the ground,

00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,558

to when it was placed on the spacecraft,

to when it was in space and be able

00:02:38,558 --> 00:02:42,795

to understand the data that came from it

and turn it into scientific results.

00:02:43,329 --> 00:02:46,599

That experience

and that - that time that I spent,

00:02:46,900 --> 00:02:50,136

you know, carefully looking after

what was in the instrument,

00:02:50,136 --> 00:02:53,973

gave me the background

to understand instruments in general,

00:02:54,340 --> 00:02:57,610

but also to understand how instruments

interface with spacecraft,

00:02:57,944 --> 00:03:01,781

understand how science drives

what we do in heliophysics,

00:03:02,148 --> 00:03:04,684

and that gave me the experience

00:03:04,684 --> 00:03:07,287

that I needed to be the project

scientist for IMAP.

00:03:08,288 --> 00:03:11,958

That’s a mission that's

asking really big unanswered questions.

00:03:12,091 --> 00:03:15,195

What is our place

within the local space environment?

00:03:15,195 --> 00:03:17,096

What's our solar home look like?

00:03:17,096 --> 00:03:22,835

What's the neighborhood? That experience

from MMS and the experience of being able

00:03:22,835 --> 00:03:26,506

to, you know, be a part of an instrument,

being part of a team in that way

00:03:26,839 --> 00:03:30,443

gave me what I needed to

be in a leadership role

00:03:30,543 --> 00:03:33,880

and to be able to lead

a group of scientists, to be able to lead

00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,351

a group of engineers,

and really a large multidimensional team.

00:03:39,652 --> 00:03:42,889

So when I think about how we as a team

can work together,

00:03:43,056 --> 00:03:44,057

I think it's important

00:03:44,057 --> 00:03:48,795

for us to understand

the human side of science. That underpins

00:03:48,795 --> 00:03:52,432

and is at the core of us being able

to work together as researchers.

00:03:52,732 --> 00:03:56,302

We really have to be compassionate

for each other. Compassionate

00:03:56,302 --> 00:03:59,639

for everyone who makes up our teams.

00:04:00,073 --> 00:04:02,642

And I think that being able to be there

00:04:02,642 --> 00:04:06,279

for the people that are working on

all of these amazing products,

00:04:06,546 --> 00:04:10,850

all these amazing, you know, NASA

missions is one of my central roles.

00:04:10,850 --> 00:04:15,154

I'm going to work very hard

to be there for everyone in the community

00:04:15,421 --> 00:04:18,391

and to really ensure

that people have the support

00:04:18,391 --> 00:04:21,728

and the things that they need

to be successful as heliophysicists.

00:04:23,162 --> 00:04:24,897

Our impact

00:04:24,897 --> 00:04:29,402

on society, on everyday

life is known and it's big.

00:04:29,669 --> 00:04:33,840

So we're at a point now where we,

we as heliophysics just need to start

00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:36,809

asking really big questions.

What are we going to do?

00:04:36,809 --> 00:04:38,411

What is this team going to do?

00:04:38,411 --> 00:04:40,046

What questions are we going to ask?

00:04:40,046 --> 00:04:43,049

What does our future look like?

00:04:43,116 --> 00:04:48,721

I want that vision to be our shared

vision as heliophysicists.

00:04:49,088 --> 00:04:52,925

I want to be able to be there

and try and ensure

00:04:53,226 --> 00:04:58,431

that everybody who's a part of the team

feels valued and feels to be engaged

00:04:58,698 --> 00:05:02,368

and included within our community.

00:05:02,769 --> 00:05:07,440

Being impactful as a researcher,

having high quality scientific results,

00:05:07,907 --> 00:05:11,844

being impactful as an engineer,

having the amazing technology

00:05:11,844 --> 00:05:15,682

that comes out of our NASA

missions is why we do this.

00:05:16,149 --> 00:05:19,052

And if you think of our scientific

understanding

00:05:19,052 --> 00:05:22,322

as being raised up

by each of these individuals knowledge,

00:05:22,622 --> 00:05:25,525

and each piece of that diverse

community comes together

00:05:25,525 --> 00:05:29,329

to build this sort of beautiful picture

that we need to develop for the world.

00:05:29,529 --> 00:05:32,231

It's a huge impact that that team has.

00:05:32,231 --> 00:05:34,834

Every person alone has a piece of that,

00:05:34,834 --> 00:05:37,837

and no one person alone

can make the entire picture.

00:05:38,338 --> 00:05:42,342

Let me try and bridge

these different places and figure out ways

00:05:42,675 --> 00:05:48,081

to enable our teams, to enable

our heliophysicists to do great work.

00:05:48,648 --> 00:05:49,649

Let's do awesome stuff.