 When you hear space science, what comes to mind? Any thoughts? Just go ahead and shout it out to me. Whatever comes to mind. Really? Nice. That's good. Great. Uh-huh. Good. Okay, it's good to hear what you all think about space science. I would say, do you also think about unraveling the mystery of aliens in space? Does that cross to your mind? Or thinking about the Milky Way galaxy puzzle? Does that also cross your mind? Well, I feel most people think about the Big Bang. Our outer space swelling with galaxies that stretch across our night skies. While some even think about the voyages of Star Trek about the USS Enterprise, which is funny. I'll tell you something. Most people, when they hear anything space science, what comes to mind is space exploration. And that's not far-fetched from the truth. A couple of decades ago, when William Hanshale, who was a notable space scientist of the 19th century, was giving a talk. He said, when he asked his audience what he thought about space science, about 80% of his audience screamed out loud to him, space exploration, and upon listening to his talk, I then thought to myself, well, it seems space exploration has actually been capturing the imagination of people for centuries and continues to evolve into a source of wonder and fascination, even until this present day. At the same time, I thought to myself, I think space science has been giving us hope. The hope about the possibilities of exploring new worlds, discovering other planets, and even comprehending more about our cosmos, which I would say is a powerful and exciting idea. So while the possibility of exploring other worlds and even fighting clean guns is an exciting phenomenon for a lot of people, I want us to be aware that space science is, it actually encompasses much more than just space exploration. Space science actually entails about the study of the atmosphere and climate of our home planet, Earth. It helps us understand the impact of the weather of the outer space on Earth and on us as the inhabitants of Earth. So whether you restore the impact of suns throw up, because unlike Vegas, what happens in the sun does not stay in the sun. So we kind of like tend to understand what's the weather of space and how it's actually impact us here. I want you to raise your hand if you've ever heard about space weather anyone? Okay, if you're not raising your hand, you don't have to feel alone. You're not alone. I did not hear about space weather until 2016 when I attended a conference in Abuja Nigeria. At the conference, one of the experts actually explained the concept of space weather and how it has revolutionized our understanding of space weather and radio communication. Upon hearing this thumb space weather, it caught my attention and I began to wonder, does the vast empty space above our head actually have a weather? I felt a range of emotion upon hearing this thumb space weather. At first, I felt intimidated by the technical and scientific aspects of the field space weather. And what it actually entails. At the same time, I felt excited. I became curious and eager to know what the mystery of this area of study is and my place within it. So all the mixed feelings actually made me wonder to know more about space weather and its underlying impacts. So you know what I did? In the process to satisfy my curiosity, I decided to settle down in the field and I got to know that space weather actually entails about the environmental conditions of our outer space that impact the performance and behaviors of our satellite and spacecraft system that affect the transmission of radio waves or radio signals. It affects the operation of power grids. I also got to know that space science or space weather, which is a subfield of science, is an extensive field. Understanding the space weather events would help us understand how our communication systems are disrupted, how space weather events can induce currents into our power line, affecting our transformers, and even leading to power outages and damages of our electronics. I'll take you back to the 19th century. Do you know that during the 19th century, the thumb space weather was not known. However, its impact was felt. For instance, in the year 1859, there was a massive solar storm. This solar storm was a form of space weather events. But then, as of then, it was not known as a space weather event. It was later on, it was given the name Carrington events. The Carrington events happened and it disrupted a lot of telegraph services and set fire to telegraph offices. For a very long time, the impact of the Carrington events was felt. So fast forward to years or centuries after the Carrington events, there has been development of more sophisticated technologies and instruments that help us understand space weather and space weather events. So despite all the many achievements in understanding space weather and its events, there's still barriers to be overcome. First, there is lack of diversity. There is lack of representation of certain groups, like women and people of color. I'll tell you that actual data from the National Science Foundation shows that women are underrepresented in the field of space science. In 2018, women made up just 10 percent of space science faculty members at U.S. colleges and university. Similarly, people of color are underrepresented, with Hispanic and African Americans making up just 4 percent and 3 percent respectively of space weather or space science faculty. So overcoming these barriers and increasing diversity in the field of space weather, we actually bring about new perspective and new ideas to the table. At the same time, making the field more welcoming to all. So I think when we try to overcome these barriers of lack of diversity, we can do that by promoting diversity in hiring, encouraging diversity in leadership, which are key steps. So another challenge in the field of space science is coupled to the fact that although space weather as a soft field in space science is an important research area, it is still very challenging to secure funding and resources. So I think it is important for stakeholders to support efforts in breaking funding challenges in the field of space weather. And in essence, making it more welcoming for more people to consider career in the field supports organizations and initiatives that promote diversity and inclusiveness in space science. We tend to make the field more welcoming and there will be possibility of having innovative and impactful research. We can also advocate for increased funding for diversity and inclusion initiative in space science. Personally, I think it is important that we support efforts to make the field of space science more welcoming to all, especially to the minority group. Because we tend to like bring more ideas to the table and make the field more welcoming. So with all that being said, I want you to raise your hand if you now understand what space science or space weather is or how important space weather is. Great. So I'm really happy to see that everybody in the auditorium, I hope people online can also raise their hands. So I am so happy to see that everybody here understand how important space weather is to our daily life, our critical infrastructures. I hope next time you hear about space science, please do not think about aliens in space or Klingons fighting. Do well to think about space weather, its impact on our daily life and the role you can play in advancing the field. Thank you.