ALUMNI PROFILES
With geography being such a broad-based degree we have seen our graduates go on to undertake careers in areas as diverse as working for the NASA space programme, retail planning, campaigning for not-for-profit organisations to leading the Roman Catholic Church of Ireland! We are proud of the achievements of our students…read on to see what some of your former colleagues have been up to since graduation. Would you like to feature on this site? Contact us and let us know your news by completing our alumni profile form.
Piers Sellers, PhD Biometeorology 1981, NASA Astronaut
Before joining the astronaut corps, Piers worked on research into how the Earth’s Biosphere and Atmosphere interact. His work involved computer modelling of the climate system, satellite remote sensing studies and field work utilising aircraft, satellites and ground teams in places such as Kansas, Russia, Africa, Canada and Brazil.
Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in April 1996, Piers reported to the NASA Johnson Space Center in August 1996. He completed two years of training and evaluation and was initially assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Computer Support Branch, followed by service in the Astronaut Office Space Station Branch. During that time, Piers worked part time in Moscow as a technical liaison on ISS computer software. Twice flown, Piers has logged over 559 hours in space, including almost 41 EVA hours in six spacewalks.
Piers has recently been appointed an OBE in the 2011 New Year Honours List for his services to science, read more
