Dr. John McCormack
Heliophysics Program Scientist
Dr. John McCormack is a program scientist and the deputy director of research for the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. His research background is in Ionosphere-Thermosphere-Mesosphere science and his current portfolio includes the EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) and Geospace Dynamics Constellation missions and research focused on improved characterization of the Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) environment. Previously he was the program scientist for the ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer), GOLD (Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk), TIMED (Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics), and AIM (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere) missions.
Prior to joining NASA in 2020, Dr. McCormack was a physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory’s Space Science Division, where he led both basic and applied projects to develop high-altitude (up to 100 km) numerical weather prediction systems, focusing on improved physical parameterizations and analysis of satellite-based observations of the stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere. He has authored or coauthored over 60 peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. McCormack earned a B.A. degree in physics and astronomy from Carleton College, and later received both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in atmospheric science from the University of Arizona, where he worked as a research associate at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. He was also a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. McCormack is a member of both the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society
