Chat with Marguerite Syvertson 4/8/97

How many years did you spend on college before you worked with NASA? 

I spent 3.5 years at Cornell, I graduated early because I found a loophole
in the requirements and I went to geology field camp over the summer.

What was your favorite subject in school? 

Journalism!! I had a great teacher, and I wished I could have done more of
it in high school!

Did you have a job when you were a teen?

I didn't have a real job in high school, wish I had now. I worked at Ames
one summer. I also worked at the New England Journal of Medicine one
summer in college, that was great!

How many years have you been working with NASA? 

I've worked at NASA/JPL for 11 years, I started the week before the
Voyager Uranus encounter which was also the week before Challenger.

Was there ever a time when you thought NASA is'nt my kind of job it's not
right for me?

I have thought about not doing NASA, but it's the world I know best. The
job I have now is the best one here for me, I really do enjoy it. I'm the
type of person that has so many interests, I could do a lot of different
things. And in a way I already have. But since I don't have anything else
I want to do instead of this, I'm very happy here!

When you get much older, will you still work at NASA?

I don't know how long I will work here, but I plan to be here while AIRS
is flying (which will be til 2005, so I will be....41!) Maybe I'll have
kids by then!

Did you always know what you wanted to do?

In school I wanted to be a meteorologist (pretty close to what I do),
architect, archaeologist, landscape architect, and journalist. I have a
wide variety of interests, and life offers a lot to do!

What do you like best about your work?

I really like working with students and people, and I like studying
weather and climate and how it affects people!
 
Do you ever see Sally Ride now?

Sally Ride! I knew I'd get a question about her! Sally is very nice, very
low-key. We're friends, mostly because we work together. I see her almost
every day now on the AOL commercial, but I did see her last month at a
review. I don't have free time with Sally, we are work colleagues/friends.
Sally was a champion tennis player in school,
and I know she still plays. Sally Ride is a professor of physics at
UC San Diego, and she is also working on KidSat.
RealWeather will be on-line soon, off the webpage
http://www-airs.jpl.nasa.gov. Kidsat is at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/kidsat. 

**********

When is the space shuttle that's up right now supposed to land and have
you found out what the problem is with the fuel cell?

The current mission should be landing about now, they had a power
generator problem. I don't know which astronauts are there, but they are
working on microgravity.

Are there any new ideas for helping the ozone and is the hole in the ozone
layer growing fast or leveling off?

The ozone layer is still thinning (there isn't a real hole, just a severe
thinning), and it's now thinning over the North Pole, too. It will
probably continue for years, as the chemicals (CFCs ] ClO) that cause it
stay up in the atmosphere for decades to centuries! But decreasing CFCs is
helping!

AIRS sounds great! Will it help our local weathermen give the same
forecast or does it just halp NASA? It's funny how some stations give
different forecasts.

AIRS will improve weather forecasting from 5 days (note how you always see
5 day forecasts on TV) to 7, which while it might not seem like a lot,
that's almost a 50% improvement, and we're a lot more accurate. We measure
temperature in the atmosphere every 1 km (0.6 miles) to 1 degree C
accuracy! And humidity and clouds as well.

What doesn't the instrument fly until year 2000?

AIRS won't fly for a while because it's on the second spacecraft of a
series, and the first doesn't launch til next year. NASA just decided to
do that. 

Have you collected any evidence of any form of life in other planets? 

No, no one has collected any forms of life from other planets, although
scientists think they have found signs of life in ALH840001, the Mars
Meteorite, and Galileo just saw organic molecules on two of the
moons of Jupiter.

**********

Are you the only women working in your division? If no are there more men
or women? If yes what is it like to work with a bunch of men?

No, I'm not the only woman in the division by a long shot, which is great!
I am the only woman with a technical background in my office area, though.
The division (400 people) has many women scientists, computer scientists,
etc.

I work with a LOT of people, AIRS is the second largest project at JPL,
and I work with a lot of other people. In education/public relations,
working with a lot of different people is the norm.

How many hours do you work a day? In a normal day, would you work a normal
8 hour shift, or do yu work more or less than 8 hours 

I work anywhere from 8 to 16 hours a day, but it tends to be more like 8
unless I'm working on a mission.

How come the workshops you did were cancelled?

The workshops were cancelled by NASA because they were too expensive, and
I'm figuring out how to make them less expensive, so they may be back.
Days can be slow or hectic, right now it's hectic!

Do you travel with your job?

I travel some, I just got back from New Orleans (as did the next speaker,
Anita) and I've been to Norway, Tokyo, and Canada for previous things I've
worked on.


Is there any parts of the job you do not like?

What don't I like: sometimes we operate in crisis mode: we should have had
everything done yesterday. I like working to deadlines, but it gets
stressful. Sometimes there are also too many meetings!

What is your office like?

Well, right now I sit in an office that's about 10x10, and I'm staring at
my computer which has three Beanie Babies (a whale, platypus, and koala)
on it. The rest of it is a mess. I wish I had my computer camera up and
running CUSeeMe, then you could see me yourselves!

**********

Do you have a husband?

I'm divorced, so I don't have a husband. I am dating someone, and he is
the Mission Planner for Mars here at JPL. No Mars questions, I don't know
as much about Mars as I do about Earth!

What is your favorite basketball player?

Basketball!! Wow, I don't watch much! Scotty Pippin seems pretty down to
Earth, though.

What kind of insterments do you play?

Instruments: funny, I do (did?) play the clarinet, but the instrument I
work on now looks at Earth from space; it's not musical. 

I checked out your webpage and was wondering how you find time to do
everything? 

How do I find time? I feel like I don't do enough! Mostly it's being
efficient, and taking time for myself. Why were the workshops cancelled?

Do you have kids?

Ihave no kids

When were you born?

I was born in Saratoga, California (near San Jose). 

What magazines do you read?

Favorite magazine: that's a hobby of mine, I love magazines and reading.
This doesn't make me look very technical, but I read Glamour, Shape,
Martha Stewart (!), Bon Appetit, and Science News. Don't believe the
scientist/technical stereotypes...we're interested in a variety of things!

**********