MPS-Ascend: High Altitude Filament Formation and Propagation

Pena, Jessica, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Jessica Peña is awarded an NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to conduct a program of research and activities related to broadening participation by groups underrepresented in STEM. This fellowship to Jessica Peña supports a research project entitled "MPS-Ascend: High Altitude Filament Formation and Propagation", under the mentorship of a sponsoring scientist. The host institution for the fellowship is the University of Central Florida and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Martin Richardson. Ultra-short pulse lasers with sufficient peak power can form self-guiding optical structures called filaments that can project high intensities over kilometer-scale distances in the Earth’s atmosphere by forming plasma channels. Peña will define the nonlinear, or filamentation, regime for various atmospheric pressures and conditions as well as characterize how the filament properties are influenced by environmental factors. Peña will be a mentor to students, as well as work with the Research and Mentoring Program (RAMP) at the University of Central Florida, the American Physical Society Bridge program, and the GEM Fellowship program nationally to recruit and mentor students from underrepresented groups. This award is co-funded by the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences in the NSF Directorate for Geosciences. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.