Michala Garrison '19

A solar eclipse makes Michala Garrison feel connected to humans throughout time that have seen such an event, even before people understood what was happening.

“They’re a wonder,” she said of the crossing of celestial bodies. “It reminds me of how small we are, but I feel like it brings communities together.”

Garrison, a Cumberland native, is a NASA scientific data visualizer.

She recently used calculations her coworker produced to create a map that shows where the moon’s shadow will cross the U.S. during the 2023 annular solar eclipse and 2024 total solar eclipse.

The map, which published online March 8, took roughly six months to complete, she said.

“It does feel a little shocking,” Garrison said of her sense of pride from seeing her work on a NASA website.

Viewers can search for their city on the map, she said.

“I wanted to include a lot of information, but not be overwhelming ... for the reader,” Garrison said.

“This map was a unique experience,” she said and added she and a small team work on the daily NASA project, Earth Observatory.

Garrison said she’s “very excited” to witness a total eclipse for the first time and plans to view the event likely in upstate New York.

“Ever since making the map I’ve been told how amazing a total solar eclipse is,” she said and added she saw a partial eclipse in 2017. “Even that was really cool.”

She has been a NASA employee since 2021 and works from her home in Portland, Oregon.

Garrison, 27, is a 2015 Fort Hill High School graduate and attended Frostburg State University where she majored in geography before she went to graduate school at the University of Oregon.

Her cartography graphics training began at FSU, she said.

“I really got my start at Frostburg State University,” Garrison said. “I’m really glad I went there and found the geography department and all the wonderful professors that made me feel comfortable and supported.”

Press release by Teresa McMinn, Cumberland Times-News

Photo was submitted by Garrison. Pictured are her and her cat Robot in Oregon where she works from home as a NASA employee.