Chat with Marguerite Syvertson - JPL 10/23/96

We are just about ready to begin our chat with Marguerite Syvertson from
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. If you haven't done so already read through her
bio. or print out a copy and prepare your questions.

Hi everyone! I'm Marguerite Syvertson. I'm the outreach manager for a
project here at JPL called AIRS, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder. It
measures a lot of things in the atmosphere like temperature, humidity,
clouds, and some chemistry. We hope it will advance weather forecasts from
the current 5 days to 7 days.

Do you mean the weather forecast we get as the general public?

Yes, the data will go to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) which sends it to the National Weather Service who
runs the models and makes the predictions. ?: NASA
studies Earth as well as the planets...Earth's a planet too! (I have to
remind my colleagues of that). The reason we study the planets is to get a
better understanding of Earth.

We haven't really heard about NASA doing this kind of things - how is this
related to space and space travel?

Where else does the National Weather service get it information from
besides NASA?

When the direct downlink satellite station is installed will we be able to
see all that information- will we still need someone to read it or will we
be abel to know the weather?


When we have the Direct Downlink, I'll put it on the web and you will be
able to see what the weather is...but not really what it will be (unless
the scientists here attempt forecasting). I'm going to start
learning how to do that on a simple level. You'll be able to see clouds
and rainy areas with the data, and where it's humid. 

Does your work help the weather men?

I hope my work will help weather people (!). We're trying to
work with the local media so they stop saying hairspray causes global
warming...the chemicals in it used to hurt the ozone, but hairspray
doesn't contain CFCs any more!

***

What does Sally Ride do now?

Sally Ride is a professor of physics at UC San Diego. She used to run the
California Space Institute. She is working on the uses of Earth remote
sensing (satellite) data in the classroom. In fact, it looks like I'll be
working with her again this winter...my mentor JoBea is going on maternity
leave and I may take her place on a project! 

***

Marguerite, My fifth grader's were wondering if you have personally
experienced any discrimination at NASA for being a woman and if you
personally have had to work harder just because you are a female to get
where you are today?

On discrimination: I haven't experience any blatantly (but I've dealt with
a few guys who wonder why a "girl" is doing this job--funny, they didn't
do very well in the long-term in their careers!) I've fought for being
treated equally over the years, though...

***

What is the smoking gun or the ozone hole - can you explain this please?

Ozone is destroyed by a catalytic (essentially means helper) chemical
cycle that involves chloroflurocarbons (CFCs). One of the chemicals in
this process is chlorine monoxide, a result of CFCs breaking down. MLS
(the instrument) found high levels of CO (chl. monox) where there were low
levels of ozone...and it was thought that CO was involved in the
process...so it was proof that CFCs are involved in ozone destruction.

What other things have CFC's in then now?

***

We were wondering if you think you would have pursued a different career
if you hadn't had such a strong father figure. What was he director of?

On my dad....I might be in a different field with a different dad. Dad
brought me up as a part of the NASA family and it was hard to think of
anything else. Math was not my strong point (I did get As, but I worked
for them!) I probably would have been a journalist otherwise. My mom died
when I was 16, so I didn't have much of a balancing influence during the
decision time about college.

Was your father director of NASA? What was his name? 

Dad was Clarence A. Syvertson (we have long names!) He was director of
Ames where Tish is from 78-84.

I'm sorry your mom died. Who took care of you after your mom died?

My dad travelled a lot while he was director, so I pretty much took care
of myself. I grew up fast (I was an only kid). My dad remarried a year
later and now I have a stepsister 18 months older who is a very successful
computer marketing analyst. 


***

Our teacher reccommends that you read the book THE WHISPERER. She is in
the middle of that book right now and says it's really good. 

Thanks for the book recommendation! 

***

Does each project at NASA have an outreach manager, we have heard in the
chats and read that alot now. It seems like this is a public relations job
but you always have such a technical background. Do all
outreach managers come from within the project?

Outreach is a big thing with NASA now (you're participating in outreach as
we type!) Most projects here at JPL have outreach managers. AIRS is our
second largest project at JPL (bigger than Galileo!) so I have my work cut
out for me.

Outreach managers can come from the projects or from support staff
(non-technical types). Both types are needed. I think my technical
background allows me to target the right areas for my efforts (satellites,
the GLOBE project---any GLOBE schools out there?) and to explain what we
do here. I'm still brushing up on the technical end of things... you
always keep learning.

***

Margarite, do you want to do anything else in your life like going up in
space or anything else? 

I've thought about getting more involved in the media, I've always been
interested in both print (newpaper) and broadcast (TV). 

I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid (don't we all?) but now I
would only go to see Earth from space. Earth is beautiful from up there. I
personally like watching clouds (both for science and artistic
reasons) and the Earth is covered over 60% by clouds...

For those who also want some view of earth from space - this month issue
of National Geographic's feature photographs are photographs of earth
taken by NASA astronauts over the years. 

Did you ever consider being a Weather person or going on TV?

You read my mind! When I was in fifth grade I thought about meteorology
(that's weather) and I wish I had studied it more. I'm thinking about it
now, but sometimes I wonder if I'm too
old to break into television (I turn 32 two weeks from today). I think
that's probably one area where there is a bit of discrimination.... women
are rated more on their looks in TV than on their abilities...but that's
changing. I'd like to be a spokesperson for our project to the
media...explaining weather and climate so people really know what's going
on.

Do the weather people on tv now really now about weather or are they a
close resemblance to that movie with Nicol Kidman - To Die For!?
Seriously, weather people don't seem very bright to me - you seem too
smart to do that on tv.

You made me laugh! Some have degrees in meteorology, and some are
comedians (we have both in LA!) One here is a former football star (he's
the guy I was referring to to about the hairspray... the on-air comment
had to do wit