Dr Poh Gangkai

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Biography

Dr Poh Gangkai is a research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the Planetary Magnetosphere Laboratory and Ionospheric, Thermospheric, Mesospheric Physics Laboratory, while holding concurrent position as a research professor at the Catholic University of America. Before joining NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, he received his B.A in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Colorado Boulder and his PhD in Atmospheric and Space Sciences from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. His research focuses primarily on the physical processes occurring within the plasma environments of planetary magnetospheres and the interaction of planetary magnetic field with the solar wind under quiet and extreme space weather conditions. Dr Poh is also part of the magnetometer instrument teams for NASA’s Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, and the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, where he analyzed the data collected by these spacecraft to study plasma phenomena occurring within the space environment of Mars and Earth. He also teaches courses on Space Weather System Science at the university in the Applied Space Weather Research program.

Dr Poh have always been passionate about teaching and mentorship, devotes time and effort to education and mentorship of undergraduate students at CUA and NASA GSFC. Besides his research and teaching activities, He also engaged in various public service and outreach activities in support of the planetary science community by volunteering in various NASA committees, such as the Mercury Exploration Assessment Group (MExAG) Steering Committee, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Working Group (IDEA-WG) and the GSFC Planetary Science Director’s Council. He also delivered multiple outreach presentations on planetary science and space weather to a broader international audience, mainly high school to university students and industry professionals, as part of a larger effort to further promote planetary science research in regions traditionally under-represented in the global planetary science community (e.g. Southeast Asia).