Sarah Gibson

Dr. Sarah Gibson is a Senior Scientist in the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Dr. Gibson received her Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Stanford University, and her Masters and Doctoral Degrees in Astrophysics from the University of Colorado.

Dr. Gibson's research centers on solar drivers of the terrestrial environment, from short-term space weather drivers such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), to long-term solar cycle variation. She uses theoretical models to understand the magnetic origins of CMEs and related space weather phenomena. A particular focus is observations and models of coronal prominence cavities, which are long-lived structures in the Sun’s atmosphere that store the magnetic energy liberated in CMEs. She has led international efforts to study these cavities, and more generally the magnetism of the solar atmosphere. She also was a leader of the Whole Sun Month and Whole Heliosphere Interval international campaigns to characterize the three-dimensional, interconnected solar-heliospheric-planetary system at solar activity minimum.

Dr. Gibson was the recipient of the American Astronomical Society – Solar Physics Division 2005 Karen Harvey Prize. She was a Scientific Editor for the Astrophysical Journal and has served on multiple national and international committees, including the National Research Council (NRC) Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey Steering Committee and the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) Solar Observatories Council. She is currently a member of the Steering Committee of International Astronomical Union (IAU) Division E (Sun and Heliosphere), the Solar Physics Editorial Board, and the NRC Space Studies Board.

Dr. Gibson is committed to education and public outreach. She has been a scientific mentor to multiple post-docs, graduate and undergraduate students, and has presented several times at the American Association of University Women's Expanding your Horizon conference for middle-school girls. She gave the first of NCAR’s 50th anniversary public lectures, and participated in the NOVA episode "Secrets of the Sun".