Miguel Román is the Deputy Director for Atmospheres in the Earth Sciences Division at NASA’s

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...

(GSFC), an organization dedicated to advancing our understanding of the Earth's atmospheric processes, including mesoscale meteorology, precipitation, atmospheric chemistry, aerosols and clouds, radiative transfer, and related climate studies. Formerly, Dr. Román was the Chief Climate Scientist for

Leidos Leidos Holdings, Inc. is an American defense company, defense, Aerospace manufacturer, aviation, information technology, and biomedical research company headquartered in Reston, Virginia, that provides scientific, engineering, systems integrati ...

Career

A leading expert in the fields of satellite

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...

, climate change, disaster risk reduction, and sustainability, Román has championed translational research and data-intensive approaches to assess and address climate-related risks. His work is internationally recognized for shedding light on the disproportionate hardships experienced by socially-vulnerable and underserved communities following major disasters. In 2022, Román was named the team leader of the

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements. There are two MODIS sensors in Geocentric orbit, Earth orbit: one on board the Terra (satellite), Terra (Earth ...

(MODIS) science team for NASA's Terra and Aqua missions, a key flagship of the

Earth Observing System The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a program of NASA comprising a series of artificial satellite missions and scientific instruments in Earth orbit designed for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, earth's atmosphere, at ...

(EOS). Román also serves as the land discipline leader for the Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20

Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is a sensor designed and manufactured by the Raytheon Company on board the polar-orbiting Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP), NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 weather satellites. VIIRS ...

(VIIRS) science team, a worldwide group of investigators and technical staff in charge of one of the largest and most comprehensive polar-orbiting satellite systems operated by NASA and

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

to monitor our planet's vital signs. He also spearheaded the development of NASA's Black Marble product suite, pioneering the first quantitative measurements of nocturnal visible and near-infrared imagery to meet the diverse needs of Earth science research and applications communities. This innovation has enabled critical analysis of urbanization, disaster response, and understanding humanity's impact on the planet.

Honors

In 2016, Dr. Román was recognized by President Barack Obama with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. He is also a 2014 Service to America Medal

Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals The Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, also known as "the Sammies", honor members of the federal government workforce, highlighting the work of employees making significant contributions to the governance of the United States. The awards ...

finalist, one of the highest honors for federal civil servants.

Education

A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dr. Román holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) in Spanish (also referred to as Colegio and CAAM in allusion to its former name), is a Public university, public land-grant university in Mayagüez ...

, a master's degree in systems engineering from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, and a Ph.D. in geography from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Personal life

Román is married to noted astrophysicist and marathon runner Julia Román-Duval; they have three children.

References

External links