Eugene Wescott

Born in Hampton, Iowa in 1932, Eugene Wescott mostly grew up in North Hollywood, California when he moved there at age ten. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and moved to Alaska in 1958 to attend the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) where he obtained his Ph.D. in physics in 1960. Eugene worked at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks from 1958 to 2009, through two International Polar Years, and had an extensive background of research in solid earth geophysics and space physics. He was involved directly in auroral and magnetospheric electric field studies and plasma physics experiments using barium and calcium plasma rocket injections at Poker Flat Research Range, and along with Dr. David Sentman and Daniel Osborne proved the existence of the upper-atmospheric electrical phenomena known as red sprites and blue jets. Upon his retirement in 2009, he became Emeritus Professor of Geophysics at UAF, and in 2000 he participated in the morning storytelling session at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and shared some of his memories of working there in the early years. Eugene Wescott passed away in 2014.