Barbara J Mattson

Dr. Mattson is currently the Astrophysics Communications Scientist for the ASD, managing the day-to-day work of the communications team as they create news features, social media posts, and multimedia products.

She joined the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) as a graduate student working with the X-ray calorimeter instrumentation team. Since then, she has conducted research on supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies in pursuit of her PhD while seeking opportunities to share astronomy with students and educators.

Prior to moving into full-time communications, Dr. Mattson's research concentrated on spectroscopy of active galactic nuclei, studying the emission of X-rays from very near the supermassive black holes at the centers of certain galaxies. Dr. Mattson earned her Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Maryland, which she pursued part-time while working as a support scientist. She entered graduate school as a High Energy Astrophysics Fellow, a joint fellowship between the University of Maryland and Goddard’s Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics. Throughout her career, Dr. Mattson has had a strong interest in translating astronomy for a variety of non-professional audiences, starting in her senior undergraduate year as a volunteer astronomer for Project-ASTRO in New Mexico and continuing today as a professional education specialist.