REU Site: Solar and Heliospheric Physics at University of Alabama in Huntsville and Marshall Space Flight Center

University Of Alabama In Huntsville, Huntsville AL

Investigators

Abstract

The Principal Investigators (PIs) will host a solar and heliospheric physics "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (REU) program on the campus of the University of Alabama at Huntsville. The primary goal of this REU program will be to engage and educate undergraduate students in order to improve retention of these students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The PIs will accomplish this by exposing undergraduates (particularly freshman or sophomores) to state-of-the-art applications and tools used by scientists and engineers working in solar and heliospheric physics today. Student research projects will involve combining observations from spacecraft and ground-based observatories with theoretical modeling and large-scale numerical simulations, to answer fundamental questions about the Sun (and other stars by extension) and its interaction the Earth and other planets in the solar system, as well as the interstellar medium beyond. The University of Alabama team will collaborate with the nearby NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville to involve REU students in scientific data analysis, theoretical numerical modeling, and computer simulations, as well as modern instrument design and testing. This mixture of faculty and research scientists with diverse skills and interests is one of the largest groups of solar and heliospheric physicists in the country, and the only such group in the southeastern United States. This REU site will emphasize the recruitment of minority students, students from non-research universities, and specifically freshman and sophomore students. The PIs have already identified non-research universities, as well as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), for their student recruitment. The PIs note that student participation in research has been demonstrated to be a highly successful method for retaining STEM majors at universities. The PIs also explain that a better understanding of the Sun and heliosphere is fundamentally important to society because of the impacts space weather can have on human civilization and modern technologies.