Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
390
SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS: A SCIENCE FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY
International Academy of Astronautics Commission 4 on Space Systems Utilization and Operations. He
was a member of the NRC Committee on the Effects of Solar Variability on Earth’s Climate.
ROBERT F. PFAFF is a space scientist in the Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics at NASA’s GSFC. Prior
to arriving at Goddard, he was a research support specialist at Cornell University’s School of Electrical
Engineering. He is the principal investigator for the Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) Vector Electric Field Instrument and co-investigator for the San Marco Satellite Electric Field
Experiment, the Polar Electric Field Investigation, and the Cluster Electric Field Investigation. In addition
to these projects, Dr. Pfaff is also either principal or co-investigator of numerous sounding rockets. He
received his Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University.
JOSHUA SEMETER is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and
director of the Center for Space Physics at Boston University. He was previously a senior research engineer
at SRI and a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. His research interests revolve
around ionospheric and space plasma physics, spectroscopy of atmospheric airglow and the aurora borealis, image processing, and radar systems and radar signal processing. Dr. Semeter was associate editor of
the Journal of Geophysical Research from 2004 to 2006. He won the 2009 Boston University Electrical and
Computer Engineering Faculty Teaching Award and the 2006 NSF CAREER Award. Dr. Semeter graduated
from Boston University with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering.
JEFFREY P. THAYER is an associate professor of remote sensing in Earth and space science in the Aerospace
Engineering Sciences Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he has led the design,
manufacturing, and testing of lidar systems for lower- and upper-atmosphere research with deployments
in remote locations, such as Greenland. He was director of the NSF Sondrestrom Upper Atmosphere
Research Facility in Greenland and performed experiments using incoherent scatter radar. His research
interests include remote sensing instrumentation for atmospheric and space science, optical engineering
for lidar system design and deployment, geophysical fluid dynamics, ionospheric electrodynamics, and
thermosphere dynamics and composition. Dr. Thayer is a recipient of the Stanford Research Institute (SRI)
Presidential Achievement Award and the University of Michigan Alumni Merit Award. He earned his Ph.D.
in atmospheric and space physics from the University of Michigan. Dr. Thayer served as chair of the NSF
Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions (CEDAR) program for the past 3 years. He
has also served on the NASA Geospace Mission and Operations Working Group, the NASA Sun-Earth
Connections Roadmap Team, the NASA Science and Technology Definition Team for the Solar-Terrestrial
Probe Geospace Electrodynamics Connections Mission, and the NSF CEDAR Science Steering Committee.
PANEL ON SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE INTERACTIONS
MICHELLE F. THOMSEN, Chair, is a fellow of LANL. Having worked as a staff scientist from 1981 until
her retirement in 2009, Dr. Thomsen now works on contract with the laboratory. Her primary research
activities have involved the analysis and interpretation of spacecraft data, especially plasma data from the
ISEE satellites, the Cassini spacecraft to Saturn, and the Los Alamos geosynchronous satellites. Previously,
she served as the principal investigator for the plasma instruments on the geosynchronous satellites, as
well as the chief scientist for space environment in the LANL High Altitude Space Monitoring program. Dr.
Thomsen has also served as the acting director of the LANL Center for Space Science and Exploration. In
addition, she served for 2 weeks as a Regents Lecturer at UCLA. Dr. Thomsen is the author or co-author
of over 360 publications. She has received an outstanding alumni award from the University of Iowa and
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
390
SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS: A SCIENCE FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY
International Academy of Astronautics Commission 4 on Space Systems Utilization and Operations. He
was a member of the NRC Committee on the Effects of Solar Variability on Earth’s Climate.
ROBERT F. PFAFF is a space scientist in the Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics at NASA’s GSFC. Prior
to arriving at Goddard, he was a research support specialist at Cornell University’s School of Electrical
Engineering. He is the principal investigator for the Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) Vector Electric Field Instrument and co-investigator for the San Marco Satellite Electric Field
Experiment, the Polar Electric Field Investigation, and the Cluster Electric Field Investigation. In addition
to these projects, Dr. Pfaff is also either principal or co-investigator of numerous sounding rockets. He
received his Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University.
JOSHUA SEMETER is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and
director of the Center for Space Physics at Boston University. He was previously a senior research engineer
at SRI and a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. His research interests revolve
around ionospheric and space plasma physics, spectroscopy of atmospheric airglow and the aurora borealis, image processing, and radar systems and radar signal processing. Dr. Semeter was associate editor of
the Journal of Geophysical Research from 2004 to 2006. He won the 2009 Boston University Electrical and
Computer Engineering Faculty Teaching Award and the 2006 NSF CAREER Award. Dr. Semeter graduated
from Boston University with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering.
JEFFREY P. THAYER is an associate professor of remote sensing in Earth and space science in the Aerospace
Engineering Sciences Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he has led the design,
manufacturing, and testing of lidar systems for lower- and upper-atmosphere research with deployments
in remote locations, such as Greenland. He was director of the NSF Sondrestrom Upper Atmosphere
Research Facility in Greenland and performed experiments using incoherent scatter radar. His research
interests include remote sensing instrumentation for atmospheric and space science, optical engineering
for lidar system design and deployment, geophysical fluid dynamics, ionospheric electrodynamics, and
thermosphere dynamics and composition. Dr. Thayer is a recipient of the Stanford Research Institute (SRI)
Presidential Achievement Award and the University of Michigan Alumni Merit Award. He earned his Ph.D.
in atmospheric and space physics from the University of Michigan. Dr. Thayer served as chair of the NSF
Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions (CEDAR) program for the past 3 years. He
has also served on the NASA Geospace Mission and Operations Working Group, the NASA Sun-Earth
Connections Roadmap Team, the NASA Science and Technology Definition Team for the Solar-Terrestrial
Probe Geospace Electrodynamics Connections Mission, and the NSF CEDAR Science Steering Committee.
PANEL ON SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE INTERACTIONS
MICHELLE F. THOMSEN, Chair, is a fellow of LANL. Having worked as a staff scientist from 1981 until
her retirement in 2009, Dr. Thomsen now works on contract with the laboratory. Her primary research
activities have involved the analysis and interpretation of spacecraft data, especially plasma data from the
ISEE satellites, the Cassini spacecraft to Saturn, and the Los Alamos geosynchronous satellites. Previously,
she served as the principal investigator for the plasma instruments on the geosynchronous satellites, as
well as the chief scientist for space environment in the LANL High Altitude Space Monitoring program. Dr.
Thomsen has also served as the acting director of the LANL Center for Space Science and Exploration. In
addition, she served for 2 weeks as a Regents Lecturer at UCLA. Dr. Thomsen is the author or co-author
of over 360 publications. She has received an outstanding alumni award from the University of Iowa and