Bea Gallardo-Lacourt has been working at NASA GSFC since 2019. She first joined NASA as an NPP fellow affiliated with Universities of Space Research Association (USRA), as a member of the Ionospheric-Thermospheric-Mesospheric (ITM) Laboratory (675). The overall theme of Bea’s research is the interaction of the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field that creates a dynamic plasma physics environment around our planet, one consequence of which is the aurora or northern lights. Fifty years ago, scientists used auroral observations to identify an explosive instability in near-Earth space they called substorm. The question of what causes the explosion, or “onset”, has emerged as one of the most intriguing challenges for our field. After five decades, this question remains unanswered. Bea’s research targets important aspects of this paradigm.
Additionally, Bea's research is centered on the Physics of the STEVE phenomenon. STEVE, an acronym for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, presents a captivating optical spectacle occurring in the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere. Recognizable by its distinctive appearance—a narrow white-mauve arc drifting westward and located closer to the equator than the auroral oval—STEVE has intrigued both the general public and the scientific community. Bea's research delves into understanding the formation of this phenomenon from the perspective of the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere interaction, exploring its impacts within this interconnected system, elucidating its primary characteristics, and examining various related aspects. Bea is author and coauthor of over 20 publications on STEVE.