Third Pod from the Sun is the American Geophysical Union’s podcast where we hear stories from scientists, for everyone.

Latest Episodes

Solving for climate: Do go chasing hurricanes

Jane Baldwin is a storm chaser, only her mode of chasing is computational modeling using multiple streams of data. As an Assistant Professor of Earth System Science at UC Irvine, she models how hurricanes and other natural hazards respond to atmospheric dynamics.

Solving for climate: Coasts in the machine

The Earth's oceans play a crucial role in regulating the planet's climate by absorbing and storing vast amounts of heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, the oceans are warming at an alarming rate. This increase in ocean temperature is causing a range of devastating impacts, from more frequent and severe storms to rising sea levels and bleached coral reefs.

Solving for climate

Are you a math person? Does thinking about math make your head hurt? Well, we hate to break it to you, but we’re all math people! Math is part of our everyday lives, whether we realize it or not. And math is a crucial part of understanding our climate and climate change.

One giant leap: For first-generational beginnings & talking rockets!

Peter Falcon is an Earth Science communications specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory with an atypical background: behavioral science. As a communications specialist, Peter acts as a liaison between NASA projects – such as the CloudSat program – and students, teachers, and the general public.

One giant leap: For beating the odds and troubleshooting telescopes

Hashima Hasan is the program scientist for NASA’s James Webb, IXPE, and NuSTAR telescopes, helping to bring those missions from cradle to grave. Hashima followed the space race closely growing up in India, which inspired her to navigate into the sciences from a world where girls were told that they couldn’t.

One giant leap: For opening up the sciences

Cynthia Hall is the community coordinator for NASA’s Transform to Open Science program, where she works with organizations and communities to build diverse scientific collaborations with NASA. She works to make scientific research and processes more inclusive and accessible to everyone.

One giant leap: For James Webb and scientists on the silver screen

Dr. Alex Lockwood is the project scientist on the science communication team for the James Webb Space Telescope at the Space Telescope Science Institute. While earning her Ph.D. in Planetary Astronomy and Science, Alex had the unique opportunity to star in a movie about the challenges faced by grad students.

One giant leap: For space librarians & accessible data

When it comes to data archiving, Michele Thornton has you covered. As a Geospatial Data Professional for ORNL-DAAC, Michele ensures that NASA funded research is accessible not only to researchers out in the field but to a larger user community – archival work that is vital for future researchers.

One giant leap: For meteorology & climate communication

As a leading international expert in weather and climate and Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Georgia, James Marshall Shepherd knows a lot about climate, and just as importantly, how to talk about it.

One small step…for Third Pod?

We're back! And this time, we're heading to the moon! Well, not the moon, but to space! Well, that's not quite true either. But we are starting season two with a series all about people who with for and with NASA.