Research Interests

• Foreshock phenomena such as Hot Flow Anomalies and foreshock cavities and their effects on the magnetosphere and ionosphere;
• Effects of cold and heavy ions on magnetic reconnection; energetic particle acceleration by magnetic reconnection; asymmetric reconnection at the magnetopause; diffusion region physics;
• Interaction of interplanetary shocks with the Earth's bow shock, magnetosphere, and the global effects resulting from the interaction, such as particle accelerations in the inner magnetosphere and magnetic pulsations on the ground;
• Structure and dynamics of the Earth’s dayside magnetosphere including the magnetosheath, magnetopause, boundary layer, cusp.

Appointments

• 2019-Now, Professor, Physics Department & Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• 2015-2019, Associate Professor, Physics Department & Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• 2010-2015, Assistant Professor, Physics Department & Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks
• 2008-2010, Postdoctoral Fellow, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Education

• Ph.D, Boston University, 2008
• M.S., Boston Univeristy, 2004
• B.S., Peking University, 2002

Awards

• 2015, NSF CAREER Award
• 2014, Mentor of the Year (NASA) at the annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring.
• 2008, NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship.
• 2007, Outstanding Student Paper Awards in American Geophysical Union 2007 Fall Meeting.
• 2006, Outstanding Student Paper Awards in American Geophysical Union 2006 Spring Meeting.

Professional Activities

Editorial Activities

• Guest Editor of Journal of Atmospheric and Solar -Terrestrial Physics special issue on Magnetospheric Response to Solar Wind Discontinuities (2009-2010)
• Co-Organizer of J. Geophys. Res. - Space Physics special issue on Dayside Magnetosphere Interactions (2017-2018)
• Co-Editor of an AGU monograph on Dayside Magnetosphere Interactions (2017-2019)

Referee Service

• Journal Reviewer, Nature, Space Science Review, J. Geophys. Res., Geophys. Res. Lett., Ann. Geophys., J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phy., Planetary and Space Science, Advances in Space Research, Advances in Geoscience, Chinese Science Bulletin, Proceedings of the 15th Cluster Workshop and the CAA School
• Judge, Outstanding Student Paper Award, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Fall Meeting, American Geophysical Union (AGU), USA; NSF 2016 GEM workshop
• Proposal Reviewer and Panelist, National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• American Geophysical Union (AGU) Scarf Award Committee, 2015-2016
• Book Reviewer, Cambridge University Press, CRC Press
• Tenure & Promotion External Reviewer

Meeting Organization

• Team Leader, ISSI-BJ team on "Dayside Transient Phenomena and Their Impact on the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere", 2017-2019.
• Co-Convener, Fundamental Physical Processes in Solar-Terrestrial Research and Their Relevance to Planetary Physics, Kona, Hawaii, 2018
• Co-Convener, AGU Chapman Conference on Dayside Magnetosphere Interactions, Chengdu, China, 2017.
• Co-Chair, GEM focus group “Transient Phenomena at the Magnetopause and Bow Shock and Their Ground Signatures”, 2012-2016.
• Organizing Committee, 2013 GEM-CEDAR Workshop, Boulder, 2013.
• Organizer, THEMIS/ARTEMIS Science Working Group Meeting Spring 2013, Fairbanks, AK, U.S.A., March 25-28, 2013.
• Scientific Organizing Committee, Cluster 10th Anniversary Workshop, Corfu Island, Greece, 2010.