About Us
The Solar and Heliospheric Research Group strives to be on the leading edge of science and engineering. Our efforts span the full cycle of research. From developing and testing new instruments and measurement technologies to analyzing spacecraft data and developing new physical theories, we take a holistic approach. We strive to maintain high standards in each of these areas, producing highly reliable instruments and data sets, as well as pushing the cutting edge with new theories for describing the evolution of the Sun and its influence within the heliosphere.
Team Members
Current Team
Faculty
Dr. Enrico Landi, Professor
Dr. Justin Kasper, Professor
Dr. Len Fisk, Professor
Dr. Susan Lepri, Professor
Dr. Stefano Livi, Research Professor
Dr. Liang Zhao, Research Scientist
Dr. Jim Raines, Research Scientist
Dr. Ryan Dewey, Post Doctoral Researcher
Dr. Erik Fischer, Research Scientist
Dr. Alex Hegedus, Research Scientist
Graduate Students
Sarah Spitzer
Tyler Eddy
Christopher Bert
Irena Gershkovich
Austin Glass
Daniel Carpenter
Janelle Holmes
Staff
Sarena Nutell, Research Adminsitration
Cole Heckathorn, Project Management
Sam Vaughn, Lab Manager, Electrical Engineer
Keeling Ploof, Software Engineer
Fernando Saca, Systems Engineer
Alumni
James Allen, Student Employee, Web Maintenance
Kate Baldwin, BS 2007, Charge State Modeling
Pei Chungfeng, Master’s Degree
Dustin Doud, Master of Engineering in Space Systems, Ground Systems Software
Laura Emig, Student Employee, SWIMS Data Analysis
Jessica Feeman, Student Employee, Ground Systems Software
Simon Hefti, Research Faculty, Data Analysis Software, and Solar Wind Composition
Matt Holmes, Student Employee, Instrument Hardware Design
Hillary Jennings, Student Employee, Web Design and Administration
Viatcheslav Klenov, Master’s Degree
Patrick Koehn, PhD 2002, Research Faculty, Instrumentation, and Planetary Science
Kelly Korreck, PhD 2005, Collisionless Shock Physics
Abigail Lirtzman, Student Employee, Administration
Ben Lynch, PhD 2006, Solar Theory and Magnetic Clouds
Tomoe Matsuoka, MEng
Elena Moise, PhD, Helium Abundances
Nick Montgomery, Student Employee, Ground System Software
Bogdan Oaida, Student Employee, Instrument Hardware Design
Jeff Orr, Graduate Student, Instrument Technology Development
Prashant Patel, PhD, Mission Orbit Analysis
Arik Posner, Post-Doctoral Student, Suprathermal Ions
Matthew Pugsley, Student Employee, Web Maintenance
Alysha Reinard, PhD 2002, CME Initiation and Propagation
Angie Richard, Graduate Student, Magnesium Isotope Abundance
Nathan Schwadron, Faculty, Pick-Up Ions and Theory
Micheal Tan, Student Employee, Instrument Operations and Design Support
Lana Tyrrell, Administrative Staff, Finances
Kara Vargo, Student Employee, Instrument Hardware Design
Pran Mukherjee, PhD 2008, Instrument Technology Development
Li-Huan Peng, Student Employee, ACE/SWICS Production Data
Eli Busen, Student Employee, FIPS Instrument Model
Jacob Beningo, Student Employee, FIPS Instrument Model
Matt Panning, Graduate Student, Instrument Hardware Design
Graham Simmington, Student Employee, Ground Systems Software
Aron Dodger, Student Employee, FIPS Instrument Model
Gerald Kummer, Student Employee, ACE/SWICS Production Data
Justin Edmondson, PhD 2010, Solar Wind Theory and Mission Analysis
Patrick Tracy, Student Employee, MFIPS Data Analysis
Vincent Russo, Student Employee, MFIPS Data Analysis
Dave Drake, Student Employee, MFIPS Data Analysis and Lab
Dave Mueller, SO-HIS system engineering
Harvey Elliot, SO-HIS system engineering
Paul Shearer
Debbie Eddy, Administrative Assistant
Tawny Dekar, Research Administration
History
The Solar-Heliospheric-Research-Group (SHRG) began in 1993, with the arrival at Michigan of Len Fisk, who joined the CLaSP faculty after leaving his position as NASA Associate Administrator for Space Sciences and Applications. Shortly after Len’s arrival his long-time colleague, George Gloeckler, began to wind down his research efforts at the University of Maryland and transferred key activities to Michigan: the analysis of data from George’s instruments on the ESA/NASA Ulysses and the NASA ACE and WIND missions, as well as key engineering personnel, Peter Bedini and Bob Lundgren, who would continue George’s pioneering time-of-flight compositional instruments. This infusion of funding at Michigan permitted the rapid growth of SHRG. Thomas Zurbuchen and Nathan Schwadron were hired as post-doctoral fellows and then moved rapidly onto the research faculty. Nathan subsequently left Michigan for the Southwest Research Institute, but Thomas remained and moved rapidly through the academic ranks, rising to full Professor and now Associate Dean for Entrepreneurship, while along the way establishing an outstanding scientific reputation and developing the FIPS instrument now in orbit about Mercury. Throughout the years, numerous students received their Ph.D. degrees while working in SHRG, and some remained with the group.
Contact
Prospective students: Contact Sue Lepri
Data inquiries: Contact Jim Raines
General info: Contact Jon Thomas