Hayley – moved from Virgina to Kiruna for research on comets and Mercury
Hayley Williamson, 31 years old, has been a scientist at the head office in Kiruna for five years, working within the Solar system physics and space technology research programme.
Research field/area: Space physics, focused on comets and Mercury.
Education and degree:
Bachelor of Science in Physics and Math from Randolph-Macon College and a PhD in Engineering Physics from the University of Virginia.
What is it like to be a scientist at IRF?
– My program at IRF, the Solar system physics and space technology program, is a fun place to be a researcher because we are very active in a lot of missions, so there is a lot to do. We collaborate a lot with each other, working together on different projects. We are also always looking for new mission and instrument opportunities that we can contribute to. Being active in the field of space physics means a lot of networking with other institutions by traveling to various meetings and conferences, which are often in interesting locations. It is in general a very intellectually fulfilling job that is never boring.
How would you describe IRF as an employer?
– I really like working at IRF. Overall, the work culture has a great focus on work-life balance and comradery between coworkers. It is nice to work at a small enough place that you can really get to know everyone.
Can you give examples of what your research is about?
– I started my research here with data from the Rosetta mission, specifically from the Ion Composition Analyzer instrument (ICA), which was built at IRF Kiruna. Rosetta orbited a comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gersimenko, from 2014-2016, and ICA has helped us understand how a comet’s plasma environment changes throughout its orbit around the Sun. With ICA, we can see that the comet plasma environment grows and becomes more complex and planet-like as it gets closer to the Sun. This then affects the solar wind, deflecting and slowing it, similarly to what you would see at a planet like Mars or Venus.
– Now I am also working on the BepiColombo mission, which is a joint ESA/JAXA mission to Mercury. BepiColombo consists of two spacecraft, a European one and a Japanese one, and IRF Kiruna has an instrument on each spacecraft. On the European spacecraft we have the Miniature Ion Precipitation Analyzer (MIPA) and on the Japanese spacecraft we have the Energetic Neutrals Analyzer (ENA). While BepiColombo has not arrived at Mercury yet, it has done several gravity assist flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury, and we have been able to take data during these flybys. I have focused particularly on the Mercury flybys, which have shown us a region of Mercury’s magnetosphere not previously observed. This is very much a work in progress, but analysis of the data so far is very exciting. I am also responsible for the processing of the MIPA data so that it can be archived by ESA.
What opportunities and challenges do you encounter in your role as a researcher?
– One of the major challenges I have had is learning new ways to write computer code and extend my capabilities as a programmer. As I have branched out into other projects, I have had to become comfortable with different styles and methods of programming that I didn’t learn during my PhD.
– Also, branching out into Mercury research has been both an opportunity and a challenge to move from unmagnetized objects like comets and Mars to an object with an intrinsic magnetic field. This necessitates learning about magnetospheric processes that don’t occur without a magnetic field, or are changed from what I am familiar with. So it has definitely been a learning process – actually, I think this is a nice thing about being a researcher: you never stop learning.
How did you become a scientist at IRF?
– After I finished my PhD in 2019, I happened to see an advertisement for a postdoc to work with Rosetta data in this place called Kiruna, which I had recently read about. It was very far from my home in the United States, but it sounded like an interesting place and a great project, so I applied. I was then hired as a postdoc to work with Rosetta data from 2019-2021, then received a grant from SNSA to continue that work as a guest researcher in 2021. In 2023 I was hired as a senior scientist to work with the BepiColombo and Mars Express missions.
What might a typical working day look like?
– In a typical working day, I spend most of my time at my computer, whether it is for programming, writing, or administrative tasks such as responding to emails. I also attend a lot of meetings throughout the week for the various projects and groups I am involved in. It doesn’t sound particularly exciting, but I do enjoy it! Using programming to do data analysis and then interpreting the results is probably my favorite part of the working day.
What advice would you like to give to a person who dreams of becoming a scientist?
– I would say that you need to be very sure that is what you want to do. It is a long road, and getting a PhD is difficult and can be very stressful. You also need to be able to work independently and be self-driven, as well as creative. It is often not the most secure of jobs, as funding usually depends on grants, which you must write proposals for and may or may not receive. But, if you are someone with a lot of scientific curiosity and capable of handling uncertainties, it is a very fulfilling career.
– I would also advise that, especially as an early career researcher, you should not get stuck in one topic, but take opportunities that are a little bit outside of your area of expertise. This will help you be a more well-rounded researcher, and prevent your way of thinking from becoming stagnant.
Why is space research important?
– Some aspects of space research are very practical; many countries are increasingly pursuing opportunities in space such as both human spaceflight and military capabilities in space. My area of space research, however, is not particularly “useful” to those here on Earth. But I don’t think it has to be! There is a lot of value in pursuing research that fundamentally extends our knowledge of the universe, and also satisfies the insatiable human curiosity about the world around them. To me, scientific research is part of what makes us human and that makes it valuable. However, as we do start to expand more into space, it is likely that understanding the other planets will become useful a few decades from now.
Would you go to space if you had the opportunity?
– No, I don’t think so. Maybe in the future, once space travel becomes more commonplace and comfortable, but right now I do not think it is for me.