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Archival News

Dr. Riley Troyer awarded PhD

April 2023: ​Riley Troyer defended his PhD thesis, focused on diffuse-like auroral forms, entitled: The Implications and Characteristics of Diffuse-like but Dynamic Aurora. Congratulations, Riley! He is off to join Space Dynamics Lab in Albuquerque, NM!

Picture of Riley Troyer
Prof. Jaynes Awarded the Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award

April 2023: ​Associate Professor Allison Jaynes is among four University of Iowa faculty members who have been selected as recipients of the Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Awards for 2023. https://physics.uiowa.edu/news/2023/04/jaynes-honored-mid-career-faculty-scholar-award

Prof. Jaynes to Serve on Heliophysics Decadal Survey Steering Committee

August 2022: "As a member of the Decadal Survey Committee, Professor Jaynes will help will set NASA's priorities in solar and space physics for the next ten years and beyond. The invitation to serve on the committee indicates Professor Jaynes' high stature in the field.

 The 18-member Survey Committee, informed by the activities of Academies-appointed study panels, informal working groups, and input from the solar and space physics community, will make recommendations to advance and expand the frontiers of solar and space physics in the current decade and lay the groundwork for continued advances in future decades." -credit: University of Iowa Department of Physics

For more info: https://physics.uiowa.edu/news/2022/08/jaynes-serve-national-academies-heliophysics-decadal-survey-steering-committee

Prof. Jaynes is Principal Investigator on a $586,504 grant to study how charged particles from space affect the Earth’s atmosphere and climate

July 2022: "The research project, [which will train and involve graduate students,] aims to advance the frontiers of our knowledge on the drivers and effects of EPP on the coupled magnetosphere-atmosphere system. In summary, this project will quantify the loss that occurs in the magnetospheric particle population through ground- and space-based observations and use that information to assess the effects of that precipitation on the Earth's atmosphere using whole atmosphere modeling. This approach will allow us to advance our understanding of this process within the context of the space science and atmospheric science fields." - credit: University of Iowa Department of Physics

For more info: https://physics.uiowa.edu/news/2022/07/ui-heliophysicists-study-how-charged-particles-affect-earths-atmosphere
Sanjay Chepuri Publishes First Paper!

June 2022: Graduate student Sanjay Chepuri published his first paper titled "A Statistical Study of Magnetopause Boundary Layer Energetic Electron Enhancements Using MMS". It was published in Frontiers: Astronomy and Space Sciences and you can check it our here: doi.org/10.3389/fspas.2022.926660
Prof. Jaynes Awarded $543,000 To Build Auroral Particle Detector

May 2022: "Jaynes is the Principal Investigator for Proton eLectron Advanced Sensor for M-I Coupling (PLASMIC), an energetic particle detector that will measure electrons coming down into Earth's atmosphere from space. It is based on a solid-state silicon detector design to measure energies from 10's keV to several MeV. These energies are important for understanding the total energy budget that is dumped into our atmosphere from space particles." - credit: University of Iowa Department of Physics

For more information see: https://physics.uiowa.edu/news/2022/05/jaynes-awarded-543000-build-auroral-particle-detector

Dr. Filwett Accepts Faculty Position at Montana State University!

May 2022: Dr. Rachael Filwett will be moving on from her post doctoral work at the University of Iowa. She has accepted a position as assistant professor at Montana State University that will begin in January 2023. We are sad to see her go, but excited for this new chapter, which will hopeful spawn lots of great collaboration between Montana State and Iowa.
LAMP Rocket Launches!

March 2022: The LAMP rocket successfully launched on the night of March 5th, 2022 into an incredible display of pulsating aurora.
Picture of LAMP rocket mid-launch
Picture of research group all together
LAMP Rocket Launch is a Go!

February 2022: Prof. Allison Jaynes and Ph.D. candidate Riley Troyer head to Fairbanks, Alaska for the Loss Through Auroral Microburst Pulsations (LAMP) rocket mission. The mission will investigate how pulsating aurora are formed and is set to launch sometime between February 24th and March 10th. To learn more: https://lamp-mission.sites.uiowa.edu

Prof. Jaynes Featured in Daily Iowan Article

February 2022: Prof. Allison Jaynes was featured in a Daily Iowan article concerning her work collaborating with UCLA and NASA on radiation belt research. https://dailyiowan.com/2022/02/06/ui-professor-collaborates-with-ucla-nasa-on-radiation-belt-research/

Prof. Jaynes selected to serve on HPAC

October 2021: Congratulations to Professor Jaynes for being selected as a new member of the Heliophysics Advisory Committee which serves to advise NASA Headquarters on programmatic policies and priorities related to Heliophysics. She will serve for a term of three years, ending September 2024.
Prof. Allison Jaynes receives Postdoctoral Mentor Award

May 2021: Professor Allison Jaynes received the 2021 University of Iowa Postdoctoral Association (UIPDA) Mentor Award, given in recognition of her excellent mentorship.
Jayasri Joseph receives Goertz/Nicholson Memorial Scholarship

April 2021: Graduate researcher, Jayasri Joseph receives the 2021 Goertz/Nicholson Memorial Scholarship, awarded by the University of Iowa Department of Physics & Astronomy.

Dr. Rachael Filwett Awarded Postdoctoral Research Scholar/Fellow Excellence Award

March 2021: Postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Rachael Filwett is one of two researchers to receive a Postdoctoral Research Scholar/Fellow Excellence Award from the University of Iowa.  https://research.uiowa.edu/impact/news/ui-recognizes-researchers-scholars-innovators-and-mentors

Riley Troyer Awarded AGU Outstanding Student Presentation Award

February 2021: Graduate researcher, Riley Troyer, receives an Outstanding Student Presentation Award (OSPA) for his 2020 AGU poster titled "A Statistical Study of Pulsating Aurora and its Impact on M-I Coupling.
Riley Troyer Publishes First Paper

February 2021: Graduate researcher, Riley Troyer, published his first paper as a first author. The paper investigates an interesting and unusual feature called a diffuse auroral eraser.

Jaya Joseph Publishes First Paper

December 2020: Graduate researcher, Jaya Joseph, published her first paper as a first author. The paper is about Van Allen belt slot region puncture events. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020JA028679
Jaya Joseph and Kawther Rouabhi Highlighted in Dare to Discover Campaign

November 2020: Two researchers in the Jaynes group, Jaya Joseph and Kawther Rouabhi, were highlighted as part of UIowa's Dare to Discover campaign on campus research (https://dare.research.uiowa.edu/)

Prof. Jaynes Awarded NSF CAREER Grant

November 2020: Allison Jaynes is awarded an NSF CAREER grant to study pulsating aurora and its relationship to radiation belt dynamics. https://now.uiowa.edu/2020/12/ui-physicist-wins-nsf-career-award

Prof. Allison Jaynes Nominated for National Academies Committee

November 2020: Prof. Jaynes has been nominated to serve on the National Academies committee for Increasing Diversity in the Leadership of Competed Space Missions (https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/increasing-diversity-in-the-leadership-of-competed-space-missions)

Dr. Rachael Filwett receives a NASA Living With a Star Research Grant

May 2021: Postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Rachael Filwett is awarded a NASA Living With a Star Focused Science Topic grant entitled "Suprathermal Property Scaling and Acceleration Processes from the Near-Sun Environment to 1AU". The grant totals ~$900k for 4 years. The research will analyze how the solar wind evolves as it moves from the Sun toward Earth.
Riley Troyer Wins NASA FINESST Fellowship

July 2020: Congratulations to Riley Troyer for winning a NASA FINESST graduate student fellowship! This award will support Riley's graduate work for up to the next three years on a study of the drivers and energy range of pulsating aurora which is critical to understanding magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling overall. He will collaborating with a NASA mentor at Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Sarah Jones. https://tinyurl.com/y4s6ma37

Dr. Rachel Filwett Wins NSF Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship

July 2020: Congratulations to Rachael Filwett on winning an NSF Post-doctoral Research Fellowship! She is fully supported for two years to study the access of SEP events to the inner magnetosphere. She will be conducting research at the University of Iowa, and in collaboration with Brian Kress at CIRES in Colorado. https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=12779

New Paper on Solar Energetic Particles

May 2020: Rachael Filwett, a post-doctoral researcher in the group, has a new paper accepted in JGR - Space Physics on the radial profiles of energetic SEP events as they access the inner magnetosphere.

A copy of the paper can be found here.

Picture of LAMP rocket team
LAMP Sounding Rocket Update

December 2019: Dr. Jaynes, graduate student Riley Troyer, and the LAMP sounding rocket team traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska to calibrate and test ground equipment for the upcoming launch in December 2020. We are assured a successful launch due to the lucky banana (decreed so by our Japanese colleagues)! Notice in the picture: PI Sarah Jones and Co-I Kazushi Asamura each holding one half of the auspicious banana. Go LAMP!
Picture of the cover of the final report from the GDC and STDT
GDC Final Report

October 2019: The final report from the Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC) Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) was presented to HPAC and released for public viewing. Dr. Allison Jaynes served as Co-Chair of the STDT. We look forward to the implementation of this exciting mission!

The final report is available here.

Picture of Joshua Douchette
Joshua Doucette wins ISG Research Fellowship!

September 2019: Joshua Doucette, undergraduate researcher in the Jaynes research group, was awarded an Iowa Space Grant Research Fellowship for the academic year 2019-2020. Joshua's winning proposal is entitled "Identifying Cases of Radial Diffusion Driven Acceleration in Earth’s High-Energy Radiation Belts".

A copy of the proposal can be found here.
Picture of award ceremony
Diversity in Scientific Award Nominations

Prof. Jaynes and co-authors wrote a paper on methods of increasing diversity in nominations for scientific awards based on the experiences of a task force formed at AGU. The paper details means by which the STEM community can help combat implicit bias and the invisible burden borne by traditionally marginalized groups in science through increased recognition.

A copy of the paper can be found here.

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Explorer 1 Launch

Explorer 1 celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, having been launched on January 31st, 1958. Professor Allison Jaynes was invited to give a presentation at the National Academies of Sciences in DC in honor of the 60th anniversary of the launch of the first US satellite, Explorer I. She gave a talk on the future of cutting edge radiation belt research.

A video of the talk can be found below

Cutting Edge of Radiation Belt Research from The National Academies on Vimeo.

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