[GEM] THE GEM MESSENGER, Volume 30, Number 1

[Newsletter Editor]

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     THE GEM MESSENGER
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Volume 30, Number 1
Jan.11,2020

Announcement submission website:
https://forms.gle/FXxfwokFxhUy1KcB9

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Table of Contents

1. HamSCI Workshop 2020 Call for Abstracts

2. AOGS 2020: Session ST13 Magnetic Structures in Planetary Magnetospheres: Observations and Simulations

3. Los Alamos Space Weather Summer School (June 1 - July 31 2020) - Applications Due Jan 19, 2020

4. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Is Hiring!

5. Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational Plasma Physics at West Virginia University

6. Graduate Student Positions in Electrical Engineering and Space Physics at Virginia Tech

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1. HamSCI Workshop 2020 Call for Abstracts
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From: Nathaniel Frissell (nathaniel.frissell at scranton.edu)

Dear Colleagues,

The 3rd Annual HamSCI (Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation) Workshop will be held at the University of Scranton March 20-21, 2020. This Citizen Science workshop is uniquely designed to bring together the professional research community and the amateur radio community to share ideas toward jointly advancing space science knowledge and amateur radio activities. As we look to the next solar maximum and solar eclipse across North America, opportunities for space weather investigations involving citizen scientists will increasingly and transformatively benefit our field. The theme of the 2020 HamSCI Workshop is "The Auroral Connection: How does the aurora affect amateur radio, and what can we learn about the aurora from citizen science techniques?" Invited speakers include Dr. Elizabeth MacDonald, NASA Scientist and founder of the Aurorasaurus citizen science project; Prof. James LaBelle, Dartmouth Space Scientist and expert on radio aurora; Dan Hallidy, K2DH, an expert in ham radio auroral communication; and leading amateur radio contester Tim Duffy, K3LR. Additionally, this workshop will also serve as a team meeting for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station project, an NSF-funded Distributed Arrays of Small Instruments project to develop a modular citizen science instrument for studying space weather from anywhere including backyards. 

The workshop organizing committee invites submission of abstracts on these topics, or on any topic that has a goal of advancing knowledge of the space environment through collaborations with citizen science communities. For more information, please visit https://hamsci.org/hamsci2020. Please send abstracts and questions to Professor Nathaniel Frissell at hamsci at hamsci.org.

Travel funding may be provided for a limited number of participants based upon need and impact to respective citizen science communities. Please provide a statement if your attendance depends on this funding for consideration by the Organizing Committee.

Best Regards,
HamSCI Workshop 2020 Science/Program Committee

Nathaniel Frissell, Chair, University of Scranton
Phil Erickson, MIT Haystack Observatory
Liz MacDonald, NASA GSFC
Cathryn Mitchell, University of Bath
Bill Liles, HamSCI Community


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2. AOGS 2020: Session ST13 Magnetic Structures in Planetary Magnetospheres: Observations and Simulations
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From: Gang Kai Poh, Wei-Jie Sun, Dogacan Ozturk, Shiyong Huang (gangkai.poh at nasa.gov)

Dear colleagues,

We would like to call to your attention our session on Magnetic Structures in Planetary Magnetospheres (ST13) to be held at the upcoming AOGS 2020 conference in South Korea from 28 June to 4 July. Please consider submitting an abstract to present your latest results in our session, the details for which are included below. Also, please note, the abstract submission deadline is 21 January 2020.

Session ST13: Magnetic Structures in Planetary Magnetospheres: Observations and Simulations

Magnetic structures are ubiquitous throughout the solar system. Examples of magnetic structures include, but are not limited to, magnetic flux ropes, dipolarization fronts, magnetic vortices and cavities. These structures are consequences of fundamental space plasma processes (e.g. magnetic reconnection and plasma instabilities) and are important for driving MHD to kinetic-scale dynamics of different plasma regions within different planetary environments. Flux ropes, which have a wide range of spatial scales, are formed by either magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause and plasma sheet of intrinsic planetary magnetospheres or Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at the regions of solar wind interactions with planetary ionospheres at Venus and Mars. Dipolarization fronts form the leading edge of newly-reconnected closed field lines embedded in high speed bursty bulk flows and are important for the transfer of flow energy to plasma heating and compression of the magnetic field, energetic particle acceleration and formation of the substorm current wedge. Magnetic vortices and their ionospheric counterparts, the travelling convection vortices, are commonly observed in Earth’s magnetosphere. They are important for the transport of plasma across different plasma boundaries, and the generation of field-aligned currents in the terrestrial ionosphere. Magnetic cavities (magnetic holes), characterized by significant decrease of the magnetic field magnitude, are frequently observed in space and astrophysical plasma, and have spatial scales varying from sub-ion to thousands of ion gyro-radius; they can affect the particle dynamic and energy exchange between plasma and fields. Despite their prevalence throughout the solar system, many aspect of the magnetic structures mentioned above remain unexplored, especially their origins, dynamics, roles in particle and energy transport, and in the global magnetosphere–ionosphere–thermosphere coupling. This session solicits contributions on the fundamental physics of magnetic structures in the magnetospheres of Earth and other planets (inner and outer planets, including Venus and Mars) using spacecraft observations and numerical simulations.

Sincerely,
Gangkai Poh, Wei-Jie Sun, Dogacan Ozturk, Shiyong Huang


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3. Los Alamos Space Weather Summer School (June 1 - July 31 2020) - Applications Due Jan 19, 2020
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From: Mike Henderson (mghenderson at lanl.gov)

The Los Alamos Space Weather Summer School is accepting applications for its 2020 session to be held (June 1 - July 31, 2020). Applications are due January 19, 2020. Sponsored by the Center for Space and Earth Sciences at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), this summer school brings together top space science graduate students and LANL space scientists to work on challenging space weather research. Students receive a prestigious Vela Fellowship (worth $10,000 to cover travel and living expenses), technical training, and opportunities for professional development.

Lectures:
The lectures will be composed of three main themes.  The first part will be an overview of basic space physics concepts geared towards understanding how the magnetosphere works and how it is driven. The second part will use modeling tools to explore the same concepts in a more quantitative way, exposing the strengths and weaknesses of available models. The final part of the lectures will bring these concepts together to explore how new space missions could be devised to help resolve longstanding scientific questions. Lectures will be coordinated with "labs" to get more hands-on experience. Space data analysis and modeling will be the main themes of the labs.

Research projects:
The unique aspect of the Los Alamos Space Weather Summer School is its emphasis on scientific research projects. Students team up with LANL mentors to work on unresolved scientific problems in space physics. LANL is engaged in a wide variety of space-physics activities and offers a host of exciting research projects (see webpage for a list of current and past projects.) Students are also encouraged to propose their own ideas, which might include topics from their PhD thesis. In the past, many of the Summer School projects have led to presentations at major international conferences and, in some cases, to publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Students:
Open to U.S. and foreign graduate students currently enrolled in PhD programs in space physics, planetary science, aerospace engineering, or related fields.

See website at http://swx-school.lanl.gov for details on application process.


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4. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Is Hiring!
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From: Sarah Gibson (sgibson at ucar.edu)

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is hiring a Lab Director for our High Altitude Observatory (HAO) Laboratory. HAO research focuses on the impact of Solar variability on Earth’s atmosphere across temporal scales, with the goal of gaining a better understanding of the key physical processes that can both improve and inform next-generation forecasts of space weather, associated hazards, and space climate.

The Director’s primary responsibilities will be to strategically lead the lab’s scientific and administrative direction, in alignment with NCAR’s strategic goals and missions. As a member of the NCAR Executive Committee, the Director shares in NCAR management deliberations and decisions, offering on the behalf of NCAR and HAO advice on matters such as scientific goals, initiatives and standards, budgets, priorities, policies, programs, and other matters. Join the NCAR team where our focus is on science for the betterment of society and where we support our staff with excellent benefits.  

To apply for the HAO Lab Director position, please visit our website: 
https://ucar.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UCAR_Careers/job/Center-Green-1/NCAR-Associate-Director---HAO_REQ-2019-105-1


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5. Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational Plasma Physics at West Virginia University
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From: Paul Cassak, Weichao Tu, Earl Scime (Paul.Cassak at mail.wvu.edu)

The Department of Physics and Astronomy is seeking applicants for a Postdoctoral Fellow in computational plasma physics, with an emphasis on a collaboration with an in-house laboratory plasma experiment. The ideal candidate will work with Profs. Paul Cassak, Weichao Tu, and Earl Scime to modify the boundary conditions in an existing particle-in-cell code to model magnetic reconnection in kinking flux ropes in the experiment, and to run test particle simulations with an existing code to study particle acceleration in electromagnetic fields in the experiment. 

Minimum qualifications include a PhD in Physics, Plasma Physics, Space Physics, or related discipline and previous research experience in computational plasma physics (preferred: particle-in-cell simulations; desirable: test particle simulations). A full list of qualifications and instructions for how to apply for the position are at https://wvu.taleo.net/careersection/wvu_research/jobdetail.ftl?job=13607. The application requires a cover letter including names and contact information of three references and a CV. Competitive salary and benefits are offered. Review of applications will begin Feb. 7, 2020, and continue until the position is filled. The preferred start date is immediate.

The WVU plasma/space group is described at https://physics.wvu.edu/research/plasma-and-space-physics. The department energetically supports diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as described at https://physics.wvu.edu/about/diversity-equity-and-inclusivity. WVU is a comprehensive land grant university enrolling nearly 27,000 students on the main Morgantown campus.  WVU’s Carnegie Classification is R1 (“Doctoral Universities - Very High Research Activity”). Morgantown is centrally located and regularly makes “Best Place to Live” lists because of its good schools, excellent health care, low unemployment rate, low crime rate, and abundant recreational opportunities. The WVU Research Corporation is an AA/EOE/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disability/ E-Verify Compliant Employer. Please contact Paul Cassak (Paul.Cassak at mail.wvu.edu), Weichao Tu (wetu at mail.wvu.edu) or Earl Scime (Earl.Scime at mail.wvu.edu) with any questions.


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6. Graduate Student Positions in Electrical Engineering and Space Physics at Virginia Tech
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From: Mike Ruohoniemi, Joseph Baker   (jo.baker at vt.edu)

The SuperDARN HF radar group at Virginia Tech (VT) is looking to fill multiple Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) positions for students to pursue a PhD in Electrical Engineering (EE) with a research emphasis on Space Physics and Ionospheric Radar Techniques. Candidates should already have a BS or MS degree in Electrical Engineering, Space Physics, Physics, or other related fields.  Primary research activities will utilize SuperDARN HF radar data in conjunction with other ground- and space-based datasets to investigate the physics of the near-Earth space environment. Academic requirements for the PhD degree include a minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate courses, primarily in Electrical Engineering. All students are also expected to participate in various radar operations support activities, such as radar maintenance, construction, hardware prototyping, data distribution, and software development. 

Interested applicants should contact Joseph Baker (jo.baker at vt.edu) and/or Mike Ruohoniemi (mikeruo at vt.edu). The nominal start date is the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester but positions will be filled as suitable candidates are identified.

The VT SuperDARN Group is affiliated with the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Center for Space Science and Engineering Research (Space at VT). 

Additional information about VT SuperDARN can be found at http://superdarn.org

Additional information about Space at VT can be found at https://www.space.vt.edu/

Additional information about the ECE PhD Application Process can be found at https://ece.vt.edu/grad/phdadmissions


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