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Overcoming Doubts and Defying Odds:
Meet Mark Miesch
What's your personal story?
I grew up in a middle class family in suburban Detroit. My father was a banker, my mother was a housewife. Technically, I'm a first-generation college student since my parents and grandparents did not have college degrees. However, it didn't feel that way, because I was the youngest of six kids and all but one of my siblings went to college. I was never a particularly notable student until about 11th grade, when I started to excel academically. I wanted to go to college but the expense was a challenge: my father died when I was 15 and my mother was upset that I did not get a Pell Grant. But, I was able to go to Michigan Technological University through a combination of my parents' savings, work study, and student loans. I became interested in physics in high school by reading popular books by Carl Sagan, Albert Einstein, and Freeman Dyson. But, I was intimidated; I didn't think I was smart enough to succeed as a physicist like my idols. So I majored in Electrical Engineering. But I took physics classes as electives and did as well or better than the physics majors. So, I changed my major to Applied Physics and graduated summa cum laude. I went to the University of Colorado in Boulder for graduate school and earned a PhD in astrophysics. I then did postdoctoral appointments at NASA and the University of Cambridge in England.
I was particularly humbled by Cambridge - an unremarkable kid from suburban Detroit working at one of the greatest intellectual institutions the world has ever known - the home of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Stephen Hawking. I came back to Boulder to work at the National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and grew to become a distinguished world expert in my field. I was at the top of my profession - until I wasn't. Due to budget cuts in 2017, NCAR had to reduce their scientific scope. My research into the Sun and stars was deemed nonessential to NCAR's mission and after 17 years there, I was asked to leave. But I took that opportunity to redirect my career. I was drawn to science out of curiosity but with time I became more committed to service. I wanted to use my skills and talents to benefit society. So I took a job in a very different field; as a sofware engineer for "normal" (terrestrial) weather forecasting. Now I work at the University of Colorado and NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, using my understanding of the Sun, computer models, and weather forecasting to help protect our technological society against the potentially formidable hazards of *space* weather. My best advice to students is a paraphrase of a quote by Albert Einstein: "Don't try to be a success, try to be of value". This got me through my career transition and continues to inspire me every day.
What key moments in your life led you to where you are today?
"How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book" (Henry David Thoreau, Walden). Like anyone, I owe a great debt to my parents, my wife and kids, my teachers and mentors through the years. I would not be where I am without them.
But when I think about why I took the career and life paths I did, books have had also had a big impact. I mentioned reading popular science books in high school is what really steered me toward a career in science. But reading has also shaped my broader outlook toward the world. About 13 years ago I read a few books by the Dalai Lama and Jack Kornfield that introduced me to western Buddhism. This way of life, focused on compassion, kindness and interconnectedness, stood in stark contrast to the competitiveness, polarization and materialism of much of American society. Those books made a profound impression on me and I established a Buddhist practice that continues to this day.
Where does your passion to serve come from?
There is a quote by the Buddhist monk Shantideva from over 1000 years ago: "Whatever joy there is in this world, all comes from wanting others to be happy, and whatever suffering there is in this world, all comes from wanting only myself to be happy." I have taken this to heart and it continues to shape my interaction with the world. I am grateful that I am happy, healthy, and financially secure. And I am grateful that I have a fulfilling and meaningful career. But I know that I don't deserve these things any more than anybody else. That is to say; we all deserve these things. And I know that I have benefited from the considerable privileges that I have as a white, cisgender, middle-class, native-born American male. I realize that without these privileges, the challenges I have faced could have become debilitating or demoralizing. So, if there is anything I can do to help others find their own paths through all this, I want to do it.
How can GlobalMindED help you reach your goals?
I have participated in two of GlobalMindED's annual meetings and I have already benefited tremendously from the inspiring leaders and talented students that I have met. I am honored to be able to serve on a panel and tell students about career opportunities
in space weather - a growing STEM field that many (perhaps most) people don't even know exists. But I have to admit that I have also been a bit frustrated at these meetings. If I worked for a big corporation, I might be able to offer some of these students
a job right on the spot. But federal agencies like NOAA and state institutions like the University of Colorado don't really work like that. I do not have the power to hire someone on the spot. Rather, I think the way to enrich the future workforce at my institution and throughout the space weather community, is to make sure that when a position opens up, there is a diverse, talented pool of qualified individuals ready to apply. So, I hope to work with GlobalMindED to set up mentoring cohorts that can guide students toward a successful career in the growing field of space weather.
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