Signature Dish: Vincent Ledvina 

‘Signature Dish’ is our longform interview series where we go “all in” on someone’s journey: exploring the past, present, and creative pulse of people today. 

Interview with Vincent Ledvina. Images by Vincent Ledvina. Written by Heather Hawke. 

Fairbank, Alaska is a place where daylight shows up briefly, space weather never clocks out, and auroras seem to have a personal vendetta against early bedtimes. It’s also where you’ll find Vincent Ledvina juggling a space physics PhD program, late–night Northern Lights chases, and an internet audience of more than a million people who rely on him to separate real aurora activity from the AI–generated kind. He calls nature his grounding force, steps outside for sunlight even when there’s only five hours of it to spare and talks about space weather the way some people talk about sports scores.

His story winds from a childhood Halloween in Minnesota illuminated by one of the most powerful geomagnetic storms ever recorded to a rocket launch in Alaska that convinced him to move north permanently. Along the way he built computers, earned Eagle Scout status, photographed his first aurora at sixteen, and discovered that the line between research and storytelling is where he belongs. Today Vincent studies auroral substorms up close, works alongside citizen scientists and fellow chasers, and communicates complex space physics in a way that feels both wildly accessible and deeply human.

This Signature Dish conversation traces how a single moment of sky–lit wonder turned into a life’s trajectory. Vincent shares what keeps him curious, how he navigates an era full of misinformation, and why the Northern Lights never really get old. Dive in. The sky is bright.

 
Intro / Warm-Up

It’s been a wild few years globally – environmentally, politically, scientifically. Before we get into your work: how are you doing these days, really? What’s been grounding you (or challenging you) personally and professionally?
 
There is Aurora happening every single night up here in Alaska, so there’s always an opportunity to go out and chase the lights and keep pushing. I also like to report on space weather events like solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other phenomena. Those happen every single day, so even if I’m having a bad day for whatever reason—whether it’s personal, school, or anything else—there’s always the Aurora and space weather to comment on and make content about.

In general, I’m feeling pretty good about life. Being in nature helps ground me and put things into perspective. I always go out for a walk in between classes and long work sessions so that I can get some fresh air and Vitamin D. Up here in Fairbanks right now, we only have about five hours of daylight, so getting fresh air and seeing the sun with your own two eyes is super important for maintaining good mental health.

The science and environmental landscape feels like it’s evolving at hyperspeed – new tech, shifting climate realities, rapid-fire public discourse, unpredictable weather patterns… What has that shift felt like from your perspective? Has it changed the way you approach your work or communicate it?

Right now, I am a full-time space physics PhD student, and I have been using a lot of new tools in my research, especially artificial intelligence for coding. The new technology, in my opinion, has actually been fairly helpful for me in getting more work done in a shorter amount of time.

On the flipside, with my time on social media, I have seen that same AI be used to generate fake nature photos and artwork which are being used to deceive people into believing a false sense of reality. Also, there have been a lot more accounts popping up all over social media talking about fake space weather events, like solar flares or big Aurora storms, hyping them up and just creating false narratives to try and get clicks and engagement. Sometimes, I become discouraged by all this misinformation, but then I realize that I can use the posts that I see as examples to try and steer the ship. It helps me focus on helping people learn the true science of the Aurora and the reality of space weather and how it can affect people and technology.

Origin Story

Let’s go back to the beginning – where did you grow up, and what role (if any) did nature, science, or curiosity play in your early life?
 
I grew up in Maplewood, Minnesota, which is a suburb of the Twin Cities. One of my first memories was when I was four years old. On October 31, 2003, I saw what is now known as the “Halloween Storm.” This is still one of the largest space weather events we have ever observed, and the geomagnetic storm scale topped out at a five out of five (or KP9).

I was trick-or-treating and I remember seeing the Aurora shining up above my head when I was coming home with a bucket full of candy. When I got inside, I watched the Northern Lights dance out of our big living room window. At the time, my parents and I actually did not know what they were. But when I grew older, I learned that I had witnessed one of the biggest space weather events in modern history. Obviously, I didn’t pick up a physics textbook immediately after I saw that big event in 2003, but I think that night instilled in me a love for the night sky and nature which has remained with me to this day.

Do you remember the first moment you felt genuinely inspired by the natural world or a scientific idea?

It really was that moment in 2003 that did it for me. However, a similar landmark event for me was in March 2022, when I was up in Fort Yukon, Alaska, helping out with a sounding rocket mission for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. At the time, I was a physics major at the University of North Dakota going for my bachelor’s. I was involved in this mission through a mentor who looped me in because they needed another student to be in the field operating cameras to observe the Aurora and monitor conditions for the rocket.

The Aurora is an interesting phenomenon because it occurs in an area of the atmosphere that is too low for satellites to fly through, but too high for weather balloons to sample, so the only way to get direct measurements is to fly sounding rockets through them. Part of the logistics involves sending people to remote field sites with cameras to observe the Aurora so that we can get images from the ground through which the rocket has flown.

On March 5, 2022—the launch of the rocket—there was a huge explosion of Aurora in the sky. I was all alone at a remote Air Force outpost in Fort Yukon, and I remember seeing the Aurora so vivid and bright it was casting shadows on the ground. I was in a pretty open area, and I could see the lights moving and dancing all across the sky in a 360° view around me. It was a very moving experience, and I will never forget that night. Seeing the Aurora that night convinced me to move to Alaska and start graduate school at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

As you started exploring deeper, where did your curiosity take you? Were you someone who devoured science books, lived outdoors, built backyard weather stations, volunteered locally, or got hooked through school or mentors?

I represented all of the above. As a kid, I was in love with the outdoors, camping, and especially photography. I was in the Boy Scouts, and I achieved the rank of Eagle Scout when I was 16 years old. I was a total nerd; I was watching Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman when I was a preschooler. I built my first computer when I was 15, buying parts off eBay and Craigslist, following a guide from an old PCMag magazine. I was very interested in astronomy and astrophysics, and around the age of 16, when I photographed my first Aurora, I became obsessed with space weather and the study of the sun.

What was your path into this field?

I feel like the path to where I am now was more or less fairly straight. What my path will look like after I get my PhD, I don’t know if it will be as straightforward, but since the age of 16, I knew that I wanted to do something in space weather. After I took my first Aurora photo, I knew that there was so much more than just the pretty lights in the sky—that space weather could affect humans and technology, and that the science learned could be used to do real good for humanity. This inspired me because, before this point, I wanted to go into astrophysics, which is still a fascinating field, but in my mind does not have the same real-world implications as space weather.

Throughout my life, it feels like a number of key experiences shaped my perspective. That night in 2003, my first time taking an Aurora photo when I was 16, and that time in March 2022 witnessing my first real Aurora at high latitudes were all important events that reaffirmed and focused my goals of becoming an Aurora scientist and space weather expert.

Did you have any unexpected jobs or detours along the way that shaped how you see your work or the world?

I don’t think there were any unexpected jobs or detours along the way. However, I was a NASA Space Ambassador for the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium when I was an undergraduate at the University of North Dakota. That role did not really fit with my goal of becoming a researcher; however, I have always had a passion for education and science communication. So actually, that experience was great in honing those skills. I got to go into elementary schools and middle schools and show people science and get them excited about STEM and NASA.

Work & Discovery / Current Project

Is your current role or research the first major chapter of your scientific career, or have you worked across different specializations or projects before this?

Currently, I am a space physics PhD student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and my research concerns what are called “auroral substorms.” Auroral substorms are big explosions of energy that happen in Earth’s magnetosphere (our magnetic shield), manifesting in the Aurora as a rapid brightening intensification that you can actually see with your own eyes, spreading throughout the auroral ovals over the north and south Arctic regions.

Substorms are not only a fundamental space weather phenomenon that happen multiple times per day, but they can also affect satellites in space because you have increased radiation and particles coming into the atmosphere. This can cause issues with electronics. Also, when particles rain down into the atmosphere, they cause it to heat up and expand, which can increase the neutral density at low-Earth orbiting altitudes, potentially affecting the orbits of those satellites. Furthermore, large currents flowing in the atmosphere could induce currents in the ground, which can travel into powerlines and transformer equipment and damage power grids.

I haven’t always been doing Aurora research. I have had a number of internships in the space weather field, looking at the solar surface and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). Finally, in 2020, I interned with a NASA citizen science project called Aurorasaurus, and that was my first foray into Aurora science. My first internship was at the National Solar Observatory in Boulder, Colorado, and then I did that job working for the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium. Later, I worked at a small company called Predictive Science Inc. as an intern, where I was modeling Coronal Mass Ejections coming off the sun and using data from the Parker Solar Probe. Then I interned for Aurorasaurus, and that’s when I got my first exposure to citizen science, science communication, and rare types of Aurora in a real way, which is now impacting my research in my current role at UAF.

Let’s talk about your current work. What sparked this particular research focus, project, or mission? What was the “why” behind starting it?

My current research project at UAF is looking at auroral substorms. I was drawn to this research because not only is it something that I can witness in real life every single night from essentially my front door here in Alaska but finding out what’s causing these auroral substorms will be super important for figuring out how we can predict them. We need to better safeguard our assets in space and on the ground against these potentially damaging space weather events, which happen every single day.

Has your process – whether research, fieldwork, communication, or data analysis – shifted over time?

Right now, my thesis project is focusing on auroral substorms, but I’m also very interested in citizen science and participatory science—ways that Aurora Chasers can help scientists. We can utilize their skills in photography and the observations they have recorded with their cameras to help us understand rare and unique types of Aurora.

In this way, I think that my research is generally collaborative. I can talk to different people or chasers, and a lot of these people are my friends, so it’s actually really fun to interact with them and let them know that their photos could be used for science. I think helping photographers understand what they’re seeing is great because not only do their photos give me interesting things to research, but I can actually help the community and give back by answering questions about what people are seeing and why it is happening.

Are you someone who works best in focused bursts (those “all in” phases), or do you prefer slow, steady, methodical progress?

I am absolutely somebody who works in short bursts. I feel like when I have a cup of coffee and a good playlist in front of me, plus something I’m really motivated on, I can completely lose track of time and be engrossed in something 100%. I feel like I am using 100% of my brain and I am fully committed to getting something done. For me, that is doing research, talking with people, looking at the Aurora, and following space weather in real time. It’s posting on social media, engaging with the community, getting people excited about the Northern Lights, and trying to use my expertise and my skill as a communicator to discover more about our natural world.

Place & Space

Does travel or sense of place influence your work?

I love to travel, so I feel like I get a lot of work done when I’m at an airport or in a plane on my way to a conference, or even just going home to see my parents for the holidays. There’s something about traveling and just the idea of being on the move and being able to work anywhere that gets me motivated. Being in a new place is exciting. Talking to people is exciting. Being able to share my work and my passion for the Aurora really drives me to do more and to be more successful with the time that I have.

Where does most of your work happen – lab, field sites, remote locations, office, some mix of all of the above?

I would say kind of a mix of all the above. Most of my work happens when I’m in my office at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, which is just a windowless cubicle. But I also travel a lot for conferences and fieldwork, and I feel like I can get a little bit more done when I’m on the move and in a new environment. I think subconsciously the idea of being in a new place makes me want to perform better. Also, I tend to go to coffee shops and hang out in public settings with other people around, so I have that added pressure of getting my work done.

Were there any limitations – funding, weather, access, technology, time – that ended up shaping the direction or outcome of your project?

I’ve been fortunate that I have two fellowships supporting me through my PhD program, so I thankfully have not had issues with funding.

When did the name or framing of your project/research come together for you?

I applied for a couple of fellowships. One of them was the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program award and the other one was a NASA FINNEST award. Both of them have the same project idea, which was to study these auroral substorms. I wrote my proposal for those two fellowships and was very thankful to be awarded both of them.

The idea for the project came from just wanting to do something that had some real-world implications, but also utilize my expertise, knowledge, and passion for the Aurora. Substorms are cool because you can see them in the Aurora, so a lot of the research is image analysis of the Aurora—which I really like to do because I’m also a photographer and I chase the Aurora a lot, so I have that experiential knowledge.

Which part of the process – collecting data, analyzing patterns, writing, communicating, fieldwork, problem-solving – brings you the most joy?

For me, it’s communicating. Whether that’s writing a paper, making a presentation slide deck, or a poster to present at a conference, I definitely enjoy communicating my science and getting people excited about what I’m doing.

Visuals, Communication & Public Understanding

Science and nature work can be incredibly visual. How hands-on are you when it comes to photography, data visualization, diagrams, public outreach, social media, or storytelling?

This is extremely valuable to me. I love communicating the science that I’m doing and engaging with communities online, at conferences, and other venues. I love giving public talks and using the Aurora as a storytelling device, forming narratives that I’ve experienced in the field to help people better understand the science and what’s going on in outer space that can affect humanity and technology. I really value good data visualization. I value sharing my ideas with people, and my goal is that everyone is as excited as me about the Aurora and space weather.

With social media and public engagement being so ever-present, do you feel more pressure or more freedom when it comes to sharing your expertise with the world?

I have over one million followers across social media platforms. Besides school and research, it is the thing that I am doing most in my free time. I love posting what I’m doing on social media, sharing my passion, and getting people excited. I think that social media is a tool and a way to connect people. I see it as a net positive rather than a negative—which I know a lot of people see these days—but if used correctly, it can be an amazing way to meet other people, share knowledge, and get people excited about STEM and the things that matter in life.

Daily Life, Practice & Field Stories

What does your day-to-day work environment look like?

Well, I have classes, so my days are pretty structured. I have class every single day at 9:15 AM. But if there’s a really good night of Aurora, I might be up until 12 AM or 1 AM chasing the lights—usually pretty close to my apartment because I can’t drive too far away, otherwise I’ll be getting back super late, not get enough sleep, and be completely decimated the day after.

I want to prioritize schoolwork and learning the science so that I can be a better communicator and be more immersed in what I’m doing. But I really love the Aurora. I just can’t pass it up. If it looks like a night is going to be super strong and the space weather data is looking great, then I’ll try and stay up the extra hour, drink an extra cup of coffee, and go out with my camera to see the Northern Lights because every single time is something unique and new and it never gets old for me.

How do you prepare mentally or physically for high-stakes days?

I find that giving my talks to my friends and my partner is a really good way to practice and figure out whether my strategies for communicating the science are working. I think practice makes perfect. I’ve given probably over 100 public talks—from astronomy clubs to conferences to research talks—so I have a lot of experience sharing my ideas. For me, I don’t get nervous anymore giving a talk, especially if it’s something that I know really well. I think that’s the key: before you give a presentation, you really want to understand the subject matter and be confident that you are the person in the room who knows the most about what you’re talking about.

Fieldwork, lab days, and long research stretches can be intense. Any personal tips for staying grounded, staying curious, or staying human during demanding periods?

My biggest tip is to get really good sleep. That’s something that I’m struggling with right now, especially with the Aurora chasing schedule that I sometimes have to adopt when skies are clear, but I have made it a resolution for 2025 (and will continue that resolution in 2026) to make sleep a priority in my life.

When I get a good night of sleep, I feel like I can do anything the next morning. It is amazing what it can do for your mental health, productivity, and mood. Also, making sure to get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day—whether that’s running on a treadmill or ideally something outside moving your entire body and soaking up the sun—I try and make that a priority as well. Those little moments when you’re not at your computer are super important just to keep yourself sane. It gives you the perspective that, even if you feel like you’re drowning in schoolwork or a project, there are bigger things in life, like appreciating the world around you, your relationships with other people, and staying physically and mentally strong.

Community, Collaboration & Culture

What’s the scientific or environmental community like where you’re based (or online)?

I could talk about this for days, but I’ll try and keep it straight and concise. I very much like the space weather community online. I’m primarily on social media on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, and Bluesky. I’m posting on all those platforms every single day. I have over one million followers across them, and the audiences on all those platforms are unique, so I’m interacting with tons of different people.

I think what is amazing about the Aurora is that it brings together people from all different walks of life in a way that most other fields can’t. The Aurora means so many different things to so many different people. There are Aurora tour guides who are trying to get people amazing experiences under the Northern Lights in Alaska; there are scientists looking at rare types of Aurora or trying to decipher the intricate physics going on in outer space; and there are people who just love following space weather in real time, just like storm chasers.

The aspect of collaboration in Aurora chasing communities is that every person who’s out there taking photos can contribute to science in a meaningful way. It’s been amazing seeing the collaborations between scientists and Aurora Chasers build friendships and result in real research being published in peer-reviewed journals. Off social media, I love going to conferences because the community is so friendly and vibrant. I feel like everybody is in it for the right reasons and is genuinely interested in what they’re doing.

Final Question

What’s something you’ve learned – about science, about yourself, or about the planet – that’s shaping what you want to study or create next?

I feel like the number one thing that I’ve learned is that you never stop learning. Also, that nature is a teacher and that perspective is everything. I think that in life, one of my goals is to have a very wide breadth of experience and meet people who give me new perspectives and new outlooks on life that help me find my own goals. Whether that’s in my career or personal life, I want to be the happiest I can be and most fulfilled, while also helping people and making society better for everybody.