[SPA] SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER, Volume XXV, Issue 38

[Newsletter Editor]

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER
Volume XXV, Issue 38
Jun.23,2018

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Table of Contents

1. In Memoriam:  Craig Selcher

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Announcement Submission Website: http://goo.gl/forms/qjcm4dDr4g


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In Memoriam:  Craig Selcher

From: Eric Sutton (eric.sutton.5 at us.af.mil), Paul Bernhardt (paul.bernhardt at nrl.navy.mil), and Mark Koepke (mark.koepke at mail.wvu.edu)

It is with great sorrow that we announce the sudden and unexpected passing of our dear friend and colleague Dr. Craig A. Selcher on Saturday, May 26th, following a fall at home. 

Craig was originally from Elizabethtown, PA, and graduated from Gettysburg College and West Virginia University. Starting in the late 1980s, Craig studied physics, first as an undergraduate at Gettysburg College, and later as a graduate student at West Virginia University under the tutelage of Dr. Mark Koepke. 

Early in his PhD program, he studied plasma waves and instabilities, using plasma diagnostics in frontier-science laboratory experiments related to space plasma physics and nonlinear dynamics. He co-authored a Physical Review Letter and a Physical Review E article with his WVU colleagues. It was during these projects, in 1994, that he became the inaugural appointee of the new WVU Plasma Physics Laboratory “off-campus research experience” program, designed as a professional-development learning platform for enriching one’s research spectrum and for developing early-professional independence and responsibility in an international setting. The destination was the SURA facility in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, the host was Dr. Paul Bernhardt, and the visit was two months long. Soon after, he moved to NRL and his dissertation project switched to diagnosing the role of plasma instabilities in artificial ionospheric heating experiments, carried out in parallel while he served as a Program Officer for ONR. In 2007, he successfully defended his PhD dissertation on the subject of three-dimensional ionospheric tomographic inversion related to heating experiments at the Arecibo Observatory.

While at the Naval Research Laboratory, Craig first worked in the Information Science Division with Edward Kennedy, the Navy program manager for the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), and later transferred to the Plasma Physics Division to work with Paul Bernhardt in the Space Use and Plasma Environment Section. His science expertise was in computerized ionospheric tomography (CIT) using satellite radio beacons, and stimulated electromagnetic emissions (SEE) excited by high power HF facilities in Russia, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. Dr. Bill Amatucci, Head of the Charged Particle Physics Branch a NRL, also attended West Virginia University noted that Craig was the smartest student in the classes that they attended. In 2010, he moved to Albuquerque, NM, to join the Air Force Research Laboratory. He initially became the Air Force program manager for HAARP, where he led groundbreaking HF ionospheric heating research and took great pains to ensure the successful transition of the facility from the Department of Defense to academia. He later served as the program manager for the Wave-Particle Interaction and Space Environment programs. At the time of his passing, Craig had been spearheading HF heating and artificial ionospheric chemical dynamics efforts at the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Craig had a great love for the outdoors and was an avid reader, devouring books on a wide range of topics. Craig was a student of American history, with a particular interest in Civil War history, piqued during his time in and around Gettysburg. Craig was an incredible resource on these and many other subjects and was always up for a friendly and engrossing conversation. He will be sorely missed by his colleagues and friends. 

Craig is survived by his wife, Trish Selcher; and his furry children, Lucy, Lexi, Calvin, and Loki. He is also survived by his father, Wayne; Sister, Linda Dupes, and brother-in-law, Lester Dupes. He also leaves many cherished aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. Craig was preceded in death by his mother, Sue.

Those who knew Craig are encouraged to post memories to his Tribute Wall and view the photo gallery: http://www.frenchfunerals.com/notices/Craig-Selcher. Contributions may be made in Craig’s name to The National Park Foundation: https://www.nationalparks.org/support.


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