C. Alex Young

 Dr. C. Alex Young serves as the Associate Director for Science Communication in the Heliophysics Science Division (HSD) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where he leads strategies to effectively communicate the division’s research and mission. A vital part of his role is developing tools, resources, and training that enable the NASA workforce to share heliophysics discoveries with broad audiences. He also collaborates with scientists within the division to showcase and support their work, partnering with groups across the Center, the Agency, and beyond.

In addition, Dr. Young plays a key role in advancing HSD’s data infrastructure. Leveraging his expertise in both data science and communication, he works with the Heliophysics Digital Resource Library (HDRL) and the Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office (M2MSWAO) to ensure data are accessible, transparent, and actionable. His efforts include integrating modern large language models (LLMs) and generative AI solutions into existing workflows to enhance knowledge sharing, data accessibility, and collaboration across research teams. Through HDRL, he gathers and applies user feedback to tailor services that are cost-effective and beneficial to researchers. Meanwhile, his programming and data skills are strengthening M2MSWAO’s engagement with stakeholders via a dynamic data dashboard—one that will continue to expand as new solar system–wide data, including from the Moon, Mars, and other NASA missions, become available. By spearheading these initiatives, Dr. Young supports the evolving needs of heliophysics research, national security, and critical infrastructure.

In graduate school at the University of New Hampshire, Dr. Young studied the high-energy astrophysics of cosmic gamma-ray bursts and gamma-ray solar flares. He then joined the NASA/ESA SOHO mission after graduate school as a Solar Astrophysicist with the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT). He also served as a staff scientist for the STEREO mission and as a Chief Observer for Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope. Working in this area grew his interest in image processing, which he combined with his love of statistics and data analysis. It was this with the help of some of his colleagues that led to his establishment of the Solar Image Processing Workshops or SIPWork. Over the years, Young has helped organize and run five workshops and edited three special topic Solar Physics journal volumes on Solar Image Processing. Part of what he enjoys about data analysis topics is the sharing of knowledge with the solar and astrophysics communities. This has led to his participation with the California Harvard Astrostatisics Collaboration (CHASC) and serve as a member and current chair of the American Astronomical Society's (AAS) Astrostatistics and Astroinformatics Working Group.

Dr. Young's passion for sharing knowledge has also been fueled by giving public lectures, television and radio interviews for NASA/TV, and participation in several documentaries. He co-led NASA's public engagement efforts for the 2017 total solar eclipse. Dr. Young also led the NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (HEAT) and its earlier incarnations from 2015 to 2021.

B.S. in Physics from Florida State Unviersity in 1991

Masters in Physics at the University of New Hampshire in 1996

Ph.D. in physics at the University of New Hampshire in 2001

• 2024: NASA/GSFC RHG-Team Award, Goddard Eclipse Engagement Partnership
• 2019: NASA Honor Award Silver Achievement Group Medal, Parker Solar Probe Team
• 2018: AGU Athelstan Spilhaus Award
• 2018: NASA Honor Award Exceptional Achievement Medal
• 2018: NASA Honor Award Silver Achievement Group Medal, Heliophysics Education Consortium Eclipse Team
• 2018: NASA Honor Award Group Achievement Award—NASA 2017 Eclipse Multimedia Visual Coverage Team
• 2017: NASA GSFC, Heliophysics Science Division Peer Award
• 2016: NASA/GSFC RHG Individual Award—Exceptional Achievement for Outreach
• 2013: NASA/GSFC RHG and NASA HQ-Team Award, Transit of Venus Public Outreach Team
• 2008: ADNET: Sciences and Exploration Data Analysis; SESDA II: Leadership Peer Award
• 2006: NASA/GSFC RHG-Team Award, STEREO Open House Team

Popular Science Articles

• Young, C. A., Space Weather: A Brief Overview, 7x24 Exchange Magazine, Spring 2011.
• O’Neil, I., Young, C. A., and Gilbert, H. R., Science and Pseudoscience Behind the End of the World, 7x24 Exchange Magazine, Spring 2012.
• Young, C. A., Solar Plasmas, Coalition for Plasma Science, 2013.
• Young, C. A., Shadow Science, Sky and Telescope, 2018.
• Green, J., and Young, C. A., Solar superstorms and their effects on Earth, Room: The Space Journal, 2019.

Media Interviews and Appearances

Documentaries:

• Discovery Channel, The Sun, June 2009.
• Discovery Channel, Apocalypse 2012, November 2009.
• NOVA and National Geographic, Sun/SDO, February 2011.
• Discovery Canada and Channel 4 UK, Fall/Winter 2011/2012.
• Consultant for the NOVA Documentary, Secrets of the Sun, April 25, 2012.
• National Geographic Special: Mission to the Sun, 2019.

NASA Liveshots:

Liveshots are 2–3-minute live interviews between scientists and local, national, and international news organizations. They are coordinated in advance, and scientists often do back-to-back interviews for several hours.

• February 2005: Solar Science
• July 25, 2007: Space Weather
• August 1, 2008: Total Solar Eclipse
• February 9, 2011: STEREO’s 360-degree view of the Sun 
• June 14, 2013: Heliophysics and Space Weather
• November 26, 2013: Comet ISON
• December 6, 2013: Solar Polar Field Reversal
• June 14, 2014: NASA Heliophysics
• November 20, 2014: Giant Sunspot
• November 30, 2015: SOHO Anniversary
• March 3, 2016: Total Solar Eclipse
• May 9, 2016: Mercury Transit
• October 21, 2016: STEREO Anniversary
• November 11, 2016: Record Supermoon
• March 20, 2017: Spring Equinox/Total Solar Eclipse
• June 21, 2017: Total Solar Eclipse/Two Months Away
• July 21, 2017: Total Solar Eclipse/One Month Away
• August 16, 2017: Total Solar Eclipse: Are You Ready for the Eclipse?
• February 2019: Parker Solar Probe
• September 2019: ICON
• February 2020: Solar Orbiter Launch
• September 2020: NASA/NOAA: Space Weather
• June 2021: Solstice
• March 2024: Total Solar Eclipse
• June 2024: Solstice

Television:

Individual interviews besides liveshots with CBS News, CBS Morning, Today, Good Morning America, CNN, MSN, Fox Weather, The Weather Channel, and PBS

Radio and Podcast Interviews (detailed examples on request):

Below the Belt Show, Science Friday, Space.com, NASA Gravity Assist, NPR, Al Jazeera English, BBC, CBC

Print and Online Media Contributions (detailed examples on request):

Quoted in and contributed to various news articles and video pieces, including NYT, Washington Post, LA Times, Slate, Forbes, Space.com, USA Today, Popular Mechanics, Scientific American, Universe Today, Business Insider, Daily Mail, Boston Globe, Voice of America, National Geographic, and more. 

Live Panel Discussions and Broadcasts:

• NASA TV coverage for the Solar Orbiter launch, February 9, 2020.
• NASA TV coverage for the Parker Solar Probe launch, July 20, 2018.
• NASA TV coverage for the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse, August 21, 2017.
• NASA TV Panel for the OSIRIS-REx launch, September 8, 2016.
• NASA EDGE: MMS Launch Live, March 13, 2015.
• NASA EDGE: Solar Max-Storm Warning, 2013.
• NASA EDGE: Transit of Venus, June 5-6, 2012.

Public Speaking and Engagement Events

Invited Talks and Public Lectures:

• National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), Indianapolis, IN—March 28, 2011, The Transit of Venus.
• 7x24 Exchange 2011 Spring Conference (data centers Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft, etc.), June 2011, Space Weather.
• 7x24 Exchange 2012 Spring Conference, June 2012, 2012 Doomsday Myths.
• Smithsonian/NASA seminar, Here Comes the Sun: Seminar About Auroras, Flares, Spots, and Storms, Washington, D.C., on June 17, 2006.
• State University of New York, Cortland: 2015
• College of Charleston, 2017.
• University of Alaska Fairbanks: 2020, 2024.
• Loyola University, Maryland: 2023, 2024.
• Library of Congress Lecture Series: 2016, 2017 and 2018.
• The World Science Festival, New York City, 2015.

Educational Outreach and Informal Education:

• Six Flags Physics Day, April 26, 2006.
• Summer Solar Science Symposium at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, NH, July 2010.
• Consultant and Advisor for WGBH Boston NOVA Labs on the Sun.
• American Library Association, 2016.
• American Museum of Natural History, Annual Sun-Earth Vernal Equinox Event, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
• Maryland Delaware Library Association, 2016 and 2017.
• PBS teacher’s lounge, SXSW Education, Austin, TX, March 6, 2018.
• Haitian science student yearly meeting, Miami Dade College, 2017.
• Garfield Park Lending Library in Newcastle, Delaware, 2018.
• National Junior College of Singapore, July 2019.

Government Leadership Engagement Events:

• Supported the NASA Associate Administrator (AA) for Science, Thomas Zurbuchen, during his testimony before the U.S. House and Senate subcommittees, which focused on NASA's preparations for the 2017 eclipse. This included drafting the testimony, serving as backup speaker, and providing the AA with information to answer committee questions.
• NASA Science on the Hill forum.
• AAS House and Senate informal sessions.