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Sarah Ringerud – Found Her Niche In The Rain

Sarah Ringerud
Sarah Ringerud
Credits: NASA/W. Hrybyk

Name: Sarah Ringerud
Title: NASA Postdoctoral Fellow
Organization: Code 612, Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Laboratory, Sciences and Exploration Directorate

What do you do at NASA Goddard?

I’m here as part of the NASA postdoctoral program. It’s a great program because selections are based on a submitted proposal, so the focus coming here is on your own research and what you’re interested in. It gives you a little freedom to carve out a niche. I’m working on research to support algorithm development for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. It’s a continuation of things I was doing as a Ph.D. student at Colorado State. I work on the algorithms for the passive microwave radiometers. The goal is to develop a consistent rainfall product from all of the different radiometers on other satellites that form the GPM constellation. I’m trying to improve the way the algorithm represents snow and ice particles as well as land surface properties.

How do you help support Goddard’s mission?

The kind of thing we’re working on is pushing and testing new retrieval techniques. The goal is to increase observation and understanding of global precipitation, and that filters into better modeling, and better numerical weather prediction.

How do you use teamwork in your job?

These algorithms are big beasts and there’s no one person who’s an expert on how every single little piece works. Coming to Goddard, it’s been amazing because many experts in the different areas are right here. Everyone’s working together to make the algorithms work.
 

Who is the most interesting person you’ve worked with at Goddard?

I already knew him before I came to work here, but I have great respect for Joe Munchak. He is extremely knowledgeable about how all the GPM algorithms work. His research is very dense, he’s working on many different things, and at the same time he manages to be an elite triathlete.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love that I never know what I’m going to find each day. There’s always a progression to everything I’m working on but the little individual blips within that progression are mysterious and there’s nothing more satisfying than solving a problem that you’ve been working on for a couple of weeks – I love that.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done as part of your job at Goddard?

Just this year I was able to go to Helsinki, Finland, and Grenoble, France, to give talks on my work, so I would say just being able to communicate my research in many different parts of the world.

What makes Goddard a great place to work?

There’s just so much going on, and this is where it’s all happening, which is so cool. Communication – even though we have it instantly at our fingertips; people in this business are busy, so it is not always easy to get in touch with people electronically. Being able to just walk down the hall with a question or for advice is great. There is a large concentration of amazing science that is going on here.

What words of wisdom would you pass along to someone just starting his or her career at Goddard?

Make as much use of the resources here as you can. Get out there and talk to people, pick people’s brains, ask for input, ask for advice. Try to carve out a little niche for yourself if you can.

What hobbies do you have?

I’m an avid runner and I have a 12-year-old, so those things take up most of my days. I love to run and race. The longest race I ever did was a 50k, which was about 31 miles, up in the mountains in Wyoming.  Since moving here from Colorado, I’ve had a long commute so I haven’t had time to train for full marathons, but have run many half-marathons. I joined the Goddard Running Club and just did their 10k race.

What else do you love to do?

I traveled a fair bit growing up. I started doing bigger, epic trips when I got older. I went to Africa and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, have done a cycling tour of South Australia, and hiked and camped in many U.S. National Parks.

By Elaine Hunt
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

A graphic with a collection of people's portraits grouped together in front of a soft blue galaxy background. The people come from various races, ethnicities, and genders. A soft yellow star shines in the upper left corner, and the stylized text "Conversations with Goddard" is in white on the far right.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of question and answer profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.

Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011 and are archived on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.

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Last Updated
Jul 25, 2023