Doreen Neil - Senior Research Scientist

Doreen Osowski Neil
Born March 19, 1954 in Thorp, WI

Education: University of WI; University of Southern California; nuclear engineering, quantum electronics

Favorite School Subject: Reading. If you can read, you can teach yourself anything.

Favorite Teacher: Mr. Bud Fleming, who taught high school social studies because he demanded that we think and challenge assumptions.

What do you do? I invent instruments to measure what gases are in Earth's atmosphere.

What is the coolest piece of equipment used on the job and why? Rockets. They take my devices to space, and they remind me of all the people it takes to make dreams reality.

How do you use mathematics in your job? I use mathematics to model my instruments, to design them, to define how well they make the measurements, to look at test data, and to analyze real data.

What advice would you give kids? Pay attention to the world around you.