Sujata Goswami
A small-town girl’s journey to NASA
Global warming and greenhouse effects pose real threats to the current climate on Earth. The water level, floods and drought are no longer just extremes of nature, but also the side effect of human actions. All these processes must be looked at with care and experience to minimize their negative influence, not only on agriculture but also Earth’s delicate ecosystems. This is where we, as mankind, rely heavily on the work of earth scientists and data analysts. One of them is Dr. Sujata Goswami — a true woman in science.
Dr. Sujata Goswami is currently working at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Pasadena as a JPL Postdoc fellow. She holds a PhD in satellite geodesy from Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany. Sujata hails from a small town in India. In her words, “It has been an exciting journey to become a part of the NASA family overcoming barriers that came into my way being a small-town Indian girl”.
As a biochemist myself, I often dreamed of doing research that can be useful not only to a narrow group of specialists, but all of mankind. In Sujata’s journey, I found the story of a woman that has a unique insight into the “voice of earth” which she understands and translates into information that can then be shared with the rest of us. Even more importantly, she uses that information to predict what will happen to the Earth`s climate and what can be done to change it.
Introduction into Sciences
Her interest in science started when she was very young. As a child, she was always fascinated by the space sciences, especially in the context of learning about our Earth and its environment. After school she joined a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Engineering program at Uttar Pradesh Technical University due to her strong interest in computational mathematics. During her Bachelors she always wanted to use her computer skills in the real field of application. She decided that Earth Sciences could give her an inlet into such an application-based research. This made her join the Geomatics Engineering in Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee for her Master studies. She recounts to us:
“This course really made my dreams come true. Now I was applying my computer science knowledge in one of the real applications’ fields. I was learning the basics of Earth Sciences and how do we study about the Earth and its climate by analyzing the data we get from the satellites in space. I became interested in learning about the twin satellites launched with a focus on measuring the changing gravity field of the Earth. I was fascinated by the information and application of gravity changes in Earth’s climate study.
What we learned in school, that gravitational force g is more or less the same over the globe stands true. But, measuring this at a higher precision (10–12 decimal digits), allows scientists to detect Earth’s gravity fields anomalies. That can be used to infer distribution of water across the planet. A satellite far in space can tell us a lot about global water level movements and changes in its quantity.”
It is really inspiring knowing that there are scientists around us who can use satellites far in space to understand what Earth is going through. Especially in case of changes in climate and water levels which both are subjects of heated discussions these days, among not just scientists but politicians and citizens alike. The work of Sujata can, for example, predict and illustrate the Antarctic ice loss.
The first steps into scientific research
Having been initiated into Earth Sciences during her Master studies, Dr. Goswami moved to a new country, Germany, where she started to work at the space mission called GRACE at Max Planck Institute of Gravitational Physics, Albert Einstein Institute and obtained her Ph.D. from Leibniz University of Hannover. The scientists in Germany in 2002 launched a pair of two spacecrafts together called as The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment or ‘GRACE’ in cooperation with USA. Dr. Sujata got very interested in the gravity information provided by the GRACE satellites. Germany, in fact, had a long history of research on this topic. Her journey in the field of earth sciences began with the GRACE satellites, as their data sets helped her in understanding the physical processes surrounding climate change on earth in a much easier way. She spent more than 4 years in Germany but did not stop there.
Her endeavors include a constant change of workplaces. Dr Sujata’s determination towards pursuing research in this field helped her take on any challenges that the GRACE project had her encounter.
As the next opportunity presented itself, she decided to move from Europe to USA and now she works for NASA where she is continuing her research in the field of Earth sciences by working on the GRACE sister mission called as GRACE Follow-On, launched in 2018, to determine the small frequent variations in the gravity field of earth. Since April 2019 she is working as a JPL Postdoc fellow in Jet Propulsion Laboratory in NASA, Pasadena. Sujata always wanted to work in NASA, and that prompted her to apply for this position. Her previous research work and connections with those at JPL helped her to get there. If you are interested in more details of the mission visit: https://gracefo.jpl.nasa.gov/.
After having lived in Germany for several years, she confided in us that moving to US had been challenging for her in terms of weather, culture change and work conditions. Having moved from the cold German weather she faced super-dry, sunny weather of California. In JPL she works as a part of team with the internationally acclaimed researchers in the field of satellite geodesy.
“Overall, I have positive things to say about my work environment. I liked the collaborative culture, weather, fast-paced research work of JPL. I miss my number of vacation days in Germany which used to be 30 days in a year whereas I get only 11 days in a year in US. Being an international researcher, I feel its pretty challenging to adjust my trip to India within these 11 days”.
Sujata is also not only a scientist. We found her to be a considerate, kind woman who believes that sharing her knowledge can help others. That’s why, even though her schedule is very busy, she manages to give back something from her own experience to others who need supervision. At the moment, she works at American Geophysical Union (AGU) as a mentor to help students who stand before important career decisions. During AGU conference she saw the various opportunities AGU is providing to the young graduates to connect to those beyond academia, and to help them discuss the various employment options out there. She took the initiative to join the AGU mentorship program, and now helps young graduates decide among their future career options and trains them in matters of seeking internships and networking in conferences. She also helps them improve their analytical, programming skills that can help them do their research work better. Dr. Sujata is also active user of LinkedIn where she posts articles that have an aim to guide students in their study choices. You can find them in the links below.
She is not new in this field. She has been a source of guidance and inspiration to many before, including Vivek Agarwal who reached out to us and nominated her for this series. Dr. Goswami guided him, right from the days when he started his master’s at IIT Roorkee, India.
“Initially, I was not feeling comfortable with my master’s course and I still remember our first meeting where, as a responsible mentor and kind-hearted lady, she informed me about all the positive aspects of the course and boosted my confidence. “
She motivated him to apply for DAAD-IIT master sandwich scholarship for an internship in Germany and guided him throughout the procedure. He was awarded the internship at Leibniz University Hannover, Germany from September 2015 to March 2016, where Dr. Goswami was then pursuing her Ph.D. During his stay in Hannover, she not only guided him throughout the Master thesis work but also helped him to adjust with the German culture and to live in Germany comfortably.
“She has been a source of inspiration for me. Her achievements made me believe that with hard work and dedication, I can also earn the prestigious DAAD scholarship.”
After his masters, Vivek was looking for a Ph. D. position and Dr. Sujata’s consistent guidance and motivation made him feel positive that he can get Ph. D. offer from a good university in his area of interest. At present he is an Engineering Excellence scholarship holder and doing his Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham UK, in “Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy”.
“Without any doubt, I can say that, among very few others, Dr. Sujata Goswami is one of the people responsible for this achievement of mine. I feel blessed to have a senior, a mentor and a friend in her, and I wish her a very good fortune in all the future endeavors she takes”
I hope all of us young scientists get to meet somebody like Sujata on their scientific journey. I also curiously wait to see where next steps of Dr Goswami will lead as she inspires me in my own scientific endeavor.
Writer:
Agnieszka Szmitkowska, Project Assistant, Content Writer, Sci-Illustrate Spotlight
Agnieszka is a Ph. D. student in Laboratory of Genomics and Proteomics of Plants at CEITEC/MU in Brno, Czech republic. She does her research on structural aspects of hormonal signalization in plants. She is involved in science popularization by Science Slam initiative of Masaryk University and believes that reaching out to young students and sharing the enthusiasm for science can change their career choices.
Dr. Radhika Patnala, Series Director, Sci-Illustrate Spotlight
