SWORM

Space Weather Operations, Research and Mitigation Subcommittee

New SWAG members

The Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation (SWORM) White House Subcommittee is pleased to announce the appointment of 15 non-government members and a student member to the second cohort of the Space Weather Advisory Group (SWAG). The SWAG was established in 2021 by Public Law 116-181, the Promoting Research and Observations of Space Weather to Improve the Forecasting of Tomorrow (PROSWIFT) Act. The chosen members will provide a range of views that represent the academic community, the commercial space weather sector, and nongovernmental space weather end-users to advise and inform the work of the White House SWORM Subcommittee. The NOAA Administrator appointed Dr. Tamara Dickinson as the SWAG Chair.

“Input from the community stakeholders is imperative to improve the U.S. government’s ability to understand, forecast, and prepare for space weather events,” said Dr. Jinni Meehan, Assistant Director for Space Policy, Office of Science Technology Policy at the White House and Co-Chair of the SWORM Subcommittee. “We must continue the whole-of-community approach to effectively build a space-weather-resilient Nation and I look forward to working with the new SWAG members as they bring a wealth of industry, academic, and user perspectives and experience to the table.”

By statute, the SWAG will advise the SWORM on improving the ability of the United States to prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from space weather storms. The SWAG will also advise on enhancing the transition of research to operations and operations to research, and developing and implementing an integrated space weather observation strategy including subsequent updates and reevaluations.

An initial action for new members of the SWAG will be to continue work on the user needs survey to identify the space weather research, observations, forecasting, and modeling advances required to improve space weather products. The timing of this effort is of great importance as we are currently in solar maximum.

2024 - 2027 Space Weather Advisory Group

End Users

• Tamara Dickinson, SWAG Chair, President, Science Matters Consulting, Washington, DC
• Kathryn Condello, Senior Director, National Security/Emergency Preparedness, Monroe, LA
• Terry Griffin, Professor and Precision Agriculture Economist, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
• Laura Vaught, Vice President, Federal Affairs, Dominion Energy Service, Richmond, VA
• Elizabeth Zimmerman, Senior Executive Advisor, Innovative Emergency Management, Morrisville, NC

Commercial Providers

• Steven Clarke, Vice President for Landers and Spacecraft, Astrobotic Technology, Pittsburgh, PA
• Seth Jonas, Principal for Space Development, Strategy, and Science, Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, MD
• Catherine Keys, Space Environments Technical Lead, Maxar Space Systems, Palo Alto, CA
• Scott McIntosh, Vice President, Space Operations, Lynker Technologies, Leesburg, VA
• Kent Tobiska, President, Space Environment Technologies, Pacific Palisades, CA

Academia

• Ian Cohen, Principal Professional Staff Member, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Baltimore, MD
• Kathryn Draeger, Statewide Director, U of M Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
• Piyush Mehta, Director, Center for Innovation in Space Exploration and Research, Associate Professor of Space Systems, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
• Daniel Welling, Assistant Professor, Department of Climate and Space, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Michael Wiltberger, Deputy Director, NCAR/High Altitude Observatory, Boulder, CO

Student Member

• Vincent Ledvina, Graduate Student, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Contact: Amy Macpherson, Designated Federal Officer, SWAG