Rod Mathie - solar guides

Where did you grow up?
I was born in Balloch, Scotland, brought up in a tiny village on the west coast of Scotland called Kilcreggan and went to school in the nearby town of Helensburgh. I enjoyed most subjects at school, but I especially liked physics and maths. I worked hard at school, but also tried (and failed) to form a pop band, called 'flat stanley'. We were very bad! My pop career in music was not going to happen, so, not wanting to move too far from home, I went to Glasgow University to study physics and astronomy.

A photo of Kilcreggan

So how did you get into space science?
I enjoyed studying physics and I decided to join the Magnetospheric Physics Group at York University. I like York, the town and the people, and the work I'm doing is really interesting. My research is about changes in the solar wind, which affect the Earth's magnetosphere, and I've also been doing some interesting work about geomagnetic storms and space weather.

What do you like about being a scientist?

I really enjoy travel, and there are plenty of opportunities to visit interesting places in my job. I've been to conferences in Uppsala in Sweden, and also in Colorado, USA. Day to day work is really interesting - there are always things to be working on and thinking about, and I find it really satisfying.

What about life outside of work?

York is a really cool place to live, but I often take the chance to visit friends in other parts of the country. I have mates in Edinburgh, Glasgow and down in Cambridge, so I do plenty of travelling to keep in touch. I also like eating, but to make sure I don't become a couch potato, I do plenty of sports, like football, cycling and swimming.

I was once holder of the 'Iron Man of York' title (unofficial endurance competitions).

Also winner of the Tonbridge 2000 cheeseburger eating competition! That's the year 2000, not 2000 cheesburgers! My real 'claim to fame is being an extra in an episode of 'Taggart'.

Who would I most like to meet?
A difficult question to answer, but it would probably be my favourite sportsman, Lance Armstrong. He is an American cyclist who has won the Tour de France for the past seven years after recovering from serious illness in 1997: an inspiration to everyone.

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