Dr. Christopher J. Mertens is a deacon in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. He serves at the parish of Saint Basil the Great in Hampton, Virginia. He received a master's degree in Applied Orthodox Theology from the Antiochian House of Studies in partnership with the Saint John of Damascus School of Theology of the University of Balamand in the Republic of Lebanon, under the aegis of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch. He is a Knight of the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch. He holds a PhD in Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a Senior Research Physicist at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. His areas of research are space weather and geospace environment modeling, galactic and solar cosmic rays, space and atmospheric ionizing radiation and dosimetry. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles on his scientific research. He is a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Metal and numerous other professional awards. Father Deacon Christopher and his wife, Rhonda, reside in Toano, Virginia. They have two adult daughters and two grandchildren.