National Science Foundation - Where Discoveries Begin

Dr. Mangala Sharma is Program Director for Space Weather at the U.S. National Science Foundation. She stewards public funding for research on space weather and space physics, oversees grants for university-led cubesats and research facilities to study space weather, and represents NSF on U.S. National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation.

Dr. Sharma has been with NSF since 2014 and was previously the agency lead for spectrum management (ensuring the availability of radio spectrum for scientific purposes) and the lead for NSF multilateral collaborations and bilateral partnerships with Nordic, Asian and African countries. Before coming to NSF, Dr. Sharma led space science and space weather matters at the U.S. Department of State and organized the first-ever global ministerial meeting on space exploration in 2014. For her Ph.D. and postdoctoral research, she studied galaxy clusters using data from optical and x-ray telescopes. She is an experienced teacher and communicator, having taught undergraduate astronomy and physical sciences and led astronomy education and outreach projects. Recognizing that talent is everywhere, Mangala has long been an advocate for diversity and inclusion in STEM.