Meet the Fellows
Research Experiences: Michael Obland
As a youth reared in “Big Sky Country” —near Colstrip, Montana— Michael Obland, Ph.D., kept his eyes on the broad, clear skies of his native state.
In coal country, far from major cities, Montana skies stayed mostly pristine—cobalt blue in daytime. Those broad Montana skies gave Obland an early passion for science, especially astronomy and astrophysics, and he was inspired early on by NASA astronauts’ achievements.”
As an undergraduate, Obland worked one summer in the NASA Academy program. That experience made him aspire to permanent NASA employment.
Toward that end, he studied relativity in graduate school, along with satellite design, construction and operation. He aspired to help NASA design and build its astrophysics satellites.
But then a Montana State University professor showed him how fascinating atmospheric research could be, and Obland landed a NASA Fellowship to fund his research.
“I didn’t really know what research I wanted to do until late in graduate school,” Obland recalled. “It was more about being in the right place at the right time and being presented with the right opportunity,” he added.
Thanks now to NASA, Obland has used his education to perform atmospheric research that may help protect skies from smoke, dust and other pollutants.
It was a long way from Colstrip to the NASA Langley Research Center, 2,000 miles away in Virginia. But due to perseverance and a timely opportunity with NASA’s Postdoctoral Program (NPP), which is administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Obland performed research into atmospheric pollution as a step toward his ultimate goal of joining NASA’s Astronaut Corps.
Obland earned physics and math degrees from the University of Montana in 2000. By 2007, he held a physics doctorate and sought a research position. By May, he’d been accepted for NASA’s Postdoctoral Program that, for a year, let him crisscross the country aboard NASA’s research plane, using airborne sensors to detect and measure particulates and assess air quality. Data collected, once shared with other scientists, are used to enhance scientific models that help predict climate change.
In mid-2007, he began a year’s work with Dr. Chris Hostetler, a NASA researcher. Obland thus made the most of his years of training in atmospheric physics and remote sensing.
“We help validate satellite measurements to ensure they operate accurately,” Obland said. “Our measurements add to our knowledge about atmospheric change.” Why is that important?
“Pollution knows no boundaries,” Obland said. “Even if a country stopped producing pollution, its skies would still contain pollution from neighbor countries’ emissions. We recently measured a striking example in Alaska, where winter skies are hazy—not pristine like one expects. But Northern Hemisphere pollution is also transported to the Arctic. Clearly, an international solution must be found.”
Obland, in his brief NASA year, has gleaned a decade’s worth of precious experience from aiding field missions, data analysis and instrument development.
“These taught me to do research on a global scale,” Obland said. “…This experience has helped prepare me to do excellent research at any laboratory.” He recommends similar study for any serious researcher.
A NASA volleyball-basketball player while employed at Langley, Obland enjoys reading and guitar; but now, he also looks forward to obtaining a pilot’s license.
In addition to these interests, he hopes to grow as a scientist. “I hope to be accepted into the Astronaut Corps where I can continue my scientific research from above earth’s atmosphere,” Obland said.
For now, he aspires “to become a key player in atmospheric remote-sensing satellite missions.”
For a young NASA researcher with such lofty plans, the broadest skies indeed impose no limit.