Brief biographies of panelists
Dr. John L. KohlAs a Senior Astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dr. Kohl presently leads a team that builds, operates, and analyzes data from spaceborne spectroscopic telescopes. He originated and developed the instruments used to observe the ultraviolet extended corona. Dr. Kohl is the Principal Investigator for the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) instrument aboard the NASA/European Space Agency SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) satellite. He is also the Principal Investigator for the Spartan 201 Ultraviolet Coronal Spectrometer, which most recently flew on the STS-95 Space Shuttle flight in November 1998. In addition, Dr. Kohl leads the SAO Experimental Atomic Collision Physics Group that determines basic atomic parameters required for the analysis of astrophysical observations.
Dr. Kohl received his B.S. in physics in 1963 from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio, the same college attended by astronaut and Senator John Glenn. He received his M.S. (1966) and Ph.D. (1969) in physics from the University of Toledo. He is an Associate of the Harvard College Observatory, a Lecturer on Astronomy at Harvard University, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Dr. Kohl has received a European Space Agency Outstanding Achievement Award, four NASA Special Achievement Awards, and seven SAO Achievement Awards. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific papers, presented many invited reviews on the solar corona, astronomical spectroscopy, and experimental atomic physics, and co-edited several conference proceedings and topical issues of scientific journals.
Dr. Leonard Strachan
Dr. Strachan earned his S.B. degree in physics from MIT in 1982 and Master's and Ph.D. degrees in astronomy from Harvard University in 1987 and 1990. He worked for four years in the U.S. Air Force before joining the staff of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at the Center for Astrophysics where he has been employed since 1991. He is involved with developing remote sensing instrumentation and techniques for studying the solar corona and solar wind using EUV spectroscopy. Specifically, he is interested in determining plasma parameters (bulk outflow velocities, velocity distributions, temperatures and abundances) of protons and minor ions in the solar wind acceleration region of the Sun's corona.
As a member of the Spartan Ultraviolet Coronal Spectrometer (UVCS/Spartan) team, he is analyzing data from the Spartan 201 flights, the most recent flight being the STS-95 mission in 1998. A primary goal of this flight was to update the calibration of the UVCS instrument on the NASA/European Space Agency's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
Dr. Steven R. Cranmer
Dr. Cranmer is an astrophysicist currently employed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is a member of the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) team that operates and analyzes data from the UVCS instrument aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite, a joint mission of NASA and the European Space Agency. His work also includes the theoretical modeling and interpretation of solar spectroscopic data, and he has worked with Prof. George Field, the first Director of the CfA, in such attempts to understand the physical processes responsible for observed solar properties.
Dr. Cranmer's scientific interests include the heating of the extended outer atmosphere of the Sun (the solar corona), the acceleration of the solar wind into interplanetary space, theoretical plasma physics, and the atmospheres and winds of other stars. He has taught undergraduate and graduate classes in astronomy, and is interested in finding new ways of communicating the results of scientific research to students and the public.
Dr. Cranmer received his B.S. in Physics from Drexel University (1990), his M.S. in Astronomy from the Ohio State University (1991), and his Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Delaware (1996). As a graduate student, he received a NASA Space Grant Fellowship (1992-1994), a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program Fellowship (1994-1996), and the Theodore Wolf Dissertation Prize (1997). He is the author or co-author of over 25 papers in the refereed scientific literature, he has given several invited papers and presentations, and he co-edited the proceedings of an international SOHO conference in 1998.
Dr. Craig DeForest
Craig DeForest is a solar physicist working for Stanford University at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and the Press Officer of the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society. He is the co-discoverer (with J. B. Gurman) of travelling waves in the solar corona.
DeForest got his start in plasma physics at the age of 16, working with the Charge Exchange Recombination fusion plasma experiment in the D3D Tokamak at General Atomic, in San Diego. He received his nuclear reactor operator's license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1986, his Bachelor's degree in Physics from Reed College in 1989, and his Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University in 1995. Since joining the SOHO mission team, DeForest has worked extensively in several subtopics of coronal physics, authoring or co-authoring more than 20 scientific papers using SOHO data.
As the press officer of the American Astronomical Society's Solar Physics Division, DeForest searches the community for interesting scientific discoveries to publicize, and occasionally appears in the national news media. He has appeared twice before on Space Science Update.
This work is not possible without contributions from a large group of scientists and engineers. See also: