From fantastical science fiction to a remarkable reality

Abstract:

Remember that lonely, awkward child sitting in the back of your 7th grade class? Were you that misfit? I was. By the time I got to middle school, my closest friends were characters from novels and I was quickly becoming entranced with the worlds of science fiction. The futuristic, and sometimes altruistic, stories provided me with solace from the bullies plaguing me at school and the mother overbearing me at home. Arthur C. Clarke’s Space Odyssey series took me on a voyage from the pain of my life to the wondrous submarine aliens of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. His novels planted a seed that continued to grow as I aged: a desire to study worlds, to further humanity’s reach in space. Science fiction gave me both a lifeline and a purpose by introducing me to the powerful concept that people can discover or create the fantastic if they have the willpower and imagination.

Now, as an adult scientist studying planetary electromagnetic fields, I do not rely on science or fiction for refuge the way I did as a child; I’ve learned to surround myself with people who respect me, while also becoming better at protecting myself from those who do not. However, as I study planetary electromagnetic fields from Earth’s core to the oceans of Europa, I still try to hold onto the notion that with enough willpower and imagination, anything is possible. After all, who would have expected that Europa’s subsurface oceans would be discovered from magnetic field data? Or that tsunamis would have a magnetic field signal capable of arriving before its water wave? Or that ocean tides’ electromagnetic signals can be used to probe the interior of a planet? Sometimes the research possibilities within planetary electromagnetism make me feel as if I have become the protagonist of an Arthur C. Clarke novel-- and I am quite alright with being the heroine of my own storyline.