Peter Gallagher

“Hi, I’m Peter Gallagher. I work at the Goddard Space Flight Centre doing work on understanding the physics of sunspots and active regions of the sun as well as looking at the physics of coronal mass ejections. I’m from Dublin, Ireland and was ‘born a scientist!’ When I was 12 I had a science lab in my bedroom, I used to blow things up, take things apart and enjoyed investigating electronics. I loved TV programmes like Tomorrows World and Why Don’t You.”

“In school I found maths hard and frustrating but I became comfortable with it during my teens and was able to achieve. My first degree is in physics and I did a masters in electronics. For my PhD I did Solar Physics – I couldn’t turn it down. In my spare time I play Gaelic rugby for the DC Gaels as often as possible, I also enjoy rugby, hiking and playing hard rock on my electric guitar.”

Visit my website at http://beauty.nascom.nasa.gov/~ptg/