Ramon E. Lopez received his B.S. in Physics in 1980 from the University of Illinois, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Space Physics in 1984 and 1986, respectively, from Rice University. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. Lopez is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and was awarded the 2002 Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Service. His current research focuses on solar wind-magnetosphere coupling, magnetospheric storms and substorms, and space weather prediction. Dr. Lopez leads a research group that is working in both space physics and science education.
Dr. Lopez is active in science education at a number of levels. Dr. Lopez has served as a consultant for a number of school districts around the country, as well as other organizations. He worked very closely with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland to help implement a hands-on science program in elementary and middle grades. He is the Co-Director for Diversity for the Center for Integrated Space weather Modeling (CISM), a Science and Technology Center funded by the National Science Foundation. In 2003, he was elected Vice Chair of the APS Forum on Education and served as Chair in 2005. Dr. Lopez has also served various education-related committees of the AGU (American Geophysical Union), and as a member of the Board of Directors of SACNAS. In the Fall of 2003, he was co-Organizner of the Introductory Calculus-Based Physics Course Conference, sponsored by the American Association of Physics Teachers.
Dr. Lopez is also the co-author of a popular book on space weather entitled "Storms from the Sun", published by Joseph Henry Press, the tradebook arm of the National Academy Press.
Education Work
I have a strong interest in science education, especially at the precollege level, that has evolved into a second career. I am a supporter of a hands-on, inquiry-centered approach to education. This doesn't mean that every student should learn everything through discovery. It took Newton to figure out the concept of mass and develop the laws of motion. But students should be provided structured inquiry experiences in order to develop a good conceptual understanding of things like Newton's laws.
Undergraduate education is also generally in need of updating in order to take advantage of research in teaching and learning. In particular, physics has han excellent research base created by physicists working in physics departments who study how student learn physics. Links to the physics education research community can be found below. In 2003, I co-organized (with Bob Beichner of NCSU) a national conference on the introductory calculus-based physics sequence.
My current area of education research involves student perception and interpretation of images and visualizations. In order to use images and visualizations of the space environment it is important to understand what naive interpretations of the images might be widely shared among viewers of the images. For example, we have discovered that across a wide range of untutored viewers, bright spots on solar images taken in EUV are interpreted as explosions, even though most are not. Additional work has focused on 2-D representations of 3-D images, and the cognitive load produced by the manipulation of mental images. I am also examining the use of visual representation in geoscience education (including astronomy and space science). This work is currently being funded by a grant from the NSF.
Space Research
My research interests are in magnetospheric physics, and my background is primarily observational. The magnetosphere is the region of space controlled primarily by the Earth's magnetic field, and is illustrated above. I have worked extensively on magnetospheric substorms, which are the episodic release of energy extratcted from the solar wind and stored in the geomagnetic tail. I have also done work on auroral dynamics and structure, current systems, magnetic storms, particle energization, solar wind-magnetosphere coupling, and space weather.
My group is part of the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM). We make detailed comparisons between observations (space- and ground-based) and the results of 3-D MHD simulations of the magnetosphere for actual events driven with real solar wind data as a means of validating models and calculating skill scores for space weather prediciton. We also lead the CISM Diversity effort. The current activites of my research group on behalf of CISM may be found here. Some of our results are discussed in papers that are available on-line (see below).
Lopez, R. E., S. Hernandez, M. Wiltberger, C.-L. Huang, E. L. Kepko, H. Spence, C. C. Goodrich, and J. G. Lyon (2007), Predicting magnetopause crossings at geosynchronous orbit during the Halloween storms, Space Weather, 5, S01005, doi:10.1029/2006SW000222.
Category: Refereed Journal
2007
Lopez, R. E. (2007), Using Space Physics in Undergraduate Electromagnetism Courses, Adv. Space Res., in press, 2007.
Category: Refereed Journal
2007
Lopez, R. E. and N. A. Gross (2007), Active Learning for Advanced Students: The Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling Graduate Summer School, Adv. Space Res., in press, doi:10.1016/j.asr.2007.06.056.
Category: Refereed Journal
2007
Lopez, R. E., S. Hernandez, K. Hallman, R. Valenzuela, J. Seiler, P. Anderson, and M. Hairston (2007), Field-Aligned Currents in the Polar Cap during Saturation of the Polar Cap Potential, J. Atmos. Sol. Terr. Phys., in press.
Category: Refereed Journal
2007
Hernandez, S., R. E. Lopez, M. Wiltberger and J. G. Lyon (2007), An explanation for the saturation of the transpolar potential, submitted to J. Geophys. Res.
Category: Refereed Journal
Presentations and Projects
Current Projects
Invited Papers, Seminars, and Colloquia
Current-Driven Versus Voltage-Driven Coupling Between the Solar Wind and the Magnetosphere, Invited paper, AOGS, Bangkok, Thailand, August 2, 2007.
Interhemispheric Asymmetries in the Transpolar Potential: MHD Simulation, Invited paper, IAGA, Perugia, Italy, July 5, 2007.
Storms from the Sun: The Science of Space Weather, Plenary lecture, Puerto Rico Interdisciplinary Science Meeting (PRISM), Bayamon, Puerto Rico, March 10, 2007.
A personal perspective on why cognitive science is important for the teaching of undergraduate physics, Discovery Learning luncheon seminar, University of Texas at Austin, Feb. 6, 2007.
Space Weather and the Simulation of the Geospace Environment, Seminar given at the Center for Nonlinear Dynamics, University of Texas at Austin, Feb. 5, 2007.
Simulating an extreme space weather storm, Invited paper, SACNAS meeting, Tampa, October 28, 2006.
Expertise, visualization, and physics education, College of Science Seminar, University of Texas at Arlington, October 9, 2006.
Simulating an extreme space weather storm, Physics Department Colloquium, University of Texas at Arlington, October 9, 2006.
Space Weather and MHD simulation of the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction, Seminar presented at IFSI, Rome, Italy, September 26, 2006.
The Role of Field-Aligned Currents in the Saturation of the Polar Cap Potential, R. Lopez, S. Hernandez, M. Wiltberger, and J. Lyon, Invited paper presented at the ISROSES conference, Varna, Bulgaria, September 19, 2006.
Plasma Physics in Undergraduate E&M Courses, Invited Paper presented at the 2006 Summer AAPT meeting, Syracuse University, July 22, 2006.
Plasma Physics in Undergraduate E&M Courses, Invited Paper presented at the Gordon Conference “Physics Research and Education: Electromagnetism”, Mount Holyoke, MA, June 14, 2006.
An overview of some recent results from LFM simulations, Seminar presented at Goddard Space Flight Center, June 2, 2006.
Space physics, visualization, and undergraduate physics education, Seminar presented at the National Science Foundation, May 31, 2006,
Some New Approaches and Innovations in Graduate Education: Learning from the STC Experience, Invited paper at the APS April meeting, Dallas, TX, April 15, 2006.
Initial Results from MHD Simulation the Halloween 2003 Magnetic Storms, Invited paper, Florida Academy of Sciences, Melbourne, Florida, March 11, 2006.
Predicting Space Weather, Physics Department Colloquium, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, March 10, 2006.
The Science of Space Weather, 2006 Benson Lecture, Miami University, Oxford, OH, March 6, 2006.
A few thoughts on Einstein’s legacy, Invited paper, SACNAS meeting, Denver, October 1, 2005.
Modeling Space Weather, Invited paper, SACNAS meeting, Denver, October 1, 2005.
Initial results from the Simulation of the Halloween 2003 storms, Invited paper, AOGS meeting, Singapore, June 22, 2005.
Space Science in the Undergraduate Curriculum at Florida Tech, Invited paper at the Spring AGU meeting, New Orleans, May 23, 2005.
Storms from the Sun: The Science of Space Weather, 14th Annual Emma Kay Malmstrom Lecture, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN, May 6, 2005.
Panelist, AAAS Forum on School Science, AAAS national meeting, Washington, DC, February 20, 2005.
2-D vs. 3-D: The role of Mental Image Processing, Invited presentation at "Teaching with Visualizations: A Workshop", San Francisco, CA, December, 12, 2004.
Global MHD Studies of Storm-Time Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Energy Coupling, Invited paper presented at "Sun-Earth Connection Physics: The GeoImpact of CMEs, CIRs, and Ordinary Solar Wind", Merida, Mexico, November 10, 2004.
Space Weather, Invited presentation given at the annual meeting of SACNAS, Austin, TX, October 21, 2004.
Conference Summary, Panel member, A Workshop to Foster Broader Participation in NASA Space Science Missions and Research Programs, Chicago, IL, June 29, 2004.
Visualization of in 2-D and 3-D: A case study, Seminar presented at University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, April 22, 2004.
Recent results from the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling, seminar presented at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, March 2, 2004.
Modeling Space Weather, Invited paper at the annual meeting of the National Society of Black Physicists, Washington D.C., February 20, 2004.
The Education Program of the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling, Invited paper presented at the Fall meeting of the AGU, December 2003.
Education Reform and the Implications for the Teaching of Undergraduate Physics, colloquium at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, May 1, 2003.
Physics Education Reform, presentation at “Excellence in Teaching Undergraduate Science and Mathematics: National and Chicago Perspectives”, Chicago State University, April 25, 2003.
The Role of Physicists in Science Education Reform, Nicholson Medal Presentation, April APS meeting, Philadelphia, PA, April 7, 2003.
Diversity in Space Science, presentation at Innovative Methods of Public Outreach and the Science Pipeline, USRA Symposium, Washington DC, April 4, 2003.
Roles for Scientists in K-12 Science Education, Invited paper, March APS meeting, Austin, TX, March 5, 2003.
Storms from the Sun: The emerging science of space weather, Plenary lecture, Winter Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, January 14, 2003.
Some after dinner thoughts on physics and education, Banquet presentation, Meeting of the Texas Section of the American Physical Society, October 11, 2002.
Storms from the Sun, Presented at the annual meeting of SACNAS, Anaheim, CA, September, 27, 2002.
Coupling in the Magnetotail Between Macroscale and Mesoscale Process During Periods of Magnetic Activity: MHD Simulations, paper presented at the COSPAR Colloquium “Frontiers of Magnetospheric Plasma Physics”, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Sagamihara, Japan, July 25, 2002.
Magnetic storms and the relationship to substorms: Results from MHD simulations of the magnetosphere and Space Weather, Seminars presented at the Institute of Space Science, the National Central University. Chung-Li, Taiwan, July 22 and July 23, 2002.
Active engagement techniques in a summer graduate school, Paper presented at the Spring AGU meeting, Washington DC, May 30, 2002.
Space Weather, Physics Department Colloquium, Texas A&M University, College Station, April 25, 2002
Plenary Panelist: Conference Wrap-Up and Roles for Scientists, NASA Office of Space Science Education and Public Outreach Conference, Chicago, IL, June 14, 2002.
Storms from the Sun, Featured Presentation, National Science Teachers Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, March 28, 2002.
Storms and Substorms: The building blocks of space weather, Physics Department Colloquium, University of Texas at Dallas, March 7, 2002.
Systemic Change and Physics Education, Special seminar, Women Studies 485 /Physics 451 Issues for ethnic minorities and women in science and engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, February, 27, 2002.
A unified view of storms and substorms, paper presented at the COSPAR Colloquium “Plasma Processes in the near-Earth Space: Interball and Beyond”, Sofia, Bulgaria, February 8, 2002.
Simulating storms and substorms, Physics Department Colloquium, University of Texas at El Paso, January 23, 2002.
The Emerging Science of Space Weather, University of Texas Speakers Series, CAST 2001, Austin, TX, November 2, 2001.
Space Weather, Presented at the annual meeting of SACNAS, Phoenix, October 27, 2001.
Reflections on the Past to Guide Curriculum Reform Today, Keynote dinner address, Shaping the Future in Science and Math Education: Working Together to Prepare Students for Tomorrow's Careers, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, October 19.
The Science of Space Weather, Keynote paper, Texas section of the APS, Ft. Worth, TX, October 6, 2001.
Panelist for discussion of book "How People Learn", International Working Conference on Research Related to Science Education: The Role of the Academies of Science, Monterrey, Mexico, September 12, 2001.
New perspectives on the Storm-Substorm relationship from global MHD simulations, colloquium presented at Marshall Space Flight Center/National Space Science Technology Center, June 26, 2001.
The Science of Space Weather, Physics department colloquium, Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, AL, June 26, 2001.
Some Reflections on a Century of Science and the Importance of Science Education, Keynote address, Summer Leadership Conference of the Texas Rural Systemic Initiative, San Angelo, TX, June 21, 2001.
Roles for Scientists in Science Education Reform, paper presented at the AGU Spring 2001 meeting, Boston, MA, May 31, 2001
The science of space weather, Physics department colloquium presented at Howard University, Washington, DC, April 25, 2001.
The science of space weather and Innovation in Physics Education and the Implications of ABET 2000, seminars presented at the Physics Department at Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, April 3, 2001.
Magnetic Storms, Space Weather, and the Public Interest, paper presented at the Chapman Conference on the Storm-Substorm relationship, Lonavala, India, March 15, 2001.
Science education reform and the implications for undergraduate physics education, Physics department colloquium, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, November 17, 2000.
The Sun-Earth Connection, Presentation at the SACNAS Annual meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, October 14, 2000.
Storms from the Sun: How Solar Wind Energy Couples to the Earth's Magnetic field, American Association of Physics Teachers, Summer 2000, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada October 24, 1999.
Verification of Magnetospheric Models, Panel Member, COSPAR, Warsaw, Poland, July 20, 2000.
The Critical Need for Professional Development for Physics Teachers, 7th Annual meeting of the Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science Teaching, Austin, Texas, July 13, 2000.
Science Education Reform and Roles for Scientists, Engineers, and their Organizations, Conference on K-12 Outreach from University Science Departments, North Carolina State University, February 12, 2000.
A Century of Physics, Keynote speech, Rio Grande Valley Science Association, February 5, 2000.
Science education reform, Physics Department Colloquium, University of Texas at Brownsville, February 4, 2000.
MHD simulations of the response of high-latitude potential patterns and polar cap boundaries to sudden southward turnings of the interplanetary magnetic field, R. Lopez, M. Wiltberger, J. G. Lyon, C. C. Goodrich, and K. Papadopoulos, Presented at the Fall meeting of the AGU, San Francisco, December, 13, 1999
Space Weather, Chemistry Department Colloquium, University of Texas at El Paso, October 24, 1999.
Understanding activity in Earth’s magnetosphere, Physics Department Colloquium, University of Texas at El Paso, May 27, 1999.
Solar wind-Magnetosphere Energy Coupling under Extreme Interplanetary Conditions: MHD Simulations, R. Lopez, presented at “The New Millenium Magnetosphere” Sixth Hunstville Modeling Workshop, Lake Guntersville, AL, October 27, 1998.
Science Education and Space Physics: Some Practical Advice, R. Lopez, presented at “The New Millenium Magnetosphere” Sixth Hunstville Modeling Workshop, Lake Guntersville, AL, October 27, 1998.
The politics of institutional change, R. Lopez, Plenary presention at the Conference on Revitalizing Undergraduate Physics Education, Arlington, VA, October 3, 1998.
The current sheet disruption model for substorm expansion initiation: Background, arguments, and relationship to the global evolution of the substorm, R. Lopez, presented at the 32nd (40th Anniversary) COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Nagoya, Japan, July 15,1998.
Substorm onset and evolution: Coupling between tail regions in MHD simulations, R. Lopez, C. Goodrich, M. Wiltberger, K. Papadopoulos, and J. Lyon, presented at the 1998 Cambridge Symposium Workshop on the Physics of Space Plasmas - Theme: Multi-Scale Phenomena - Cascais, Portugal, June 29, 1998.
Coupling between local and global activity during the substorm expasion phase: Results from MHD simulations and comparison to observations, R. Lopez, C. Goodrich, M. Wiltberger, K. Papadopoulos, and J. Lyon, presented at the 4th International Conference on Substorms, Lake Hamana, Japan, March 10, 1998.
Science education reform and what it means for your job, Physics Department Colloquium presented at the University of North Carolina, January 23, 1998.
Systemic reform in undergraduate physics education, Seminar presented at The Ohio State University, October 8, 1997.
Science education reform and the implications for undergraduate instruction, Physics Department Seminar presented at North Carolina State University, September 26, 1997.
Science education reform and the implications for physics instruction, Physics Department Colloquium presented at California Polytechnic University, May 22, 1997.
Some Practical Advice for Scientists Who Are Starting Education Projects, paper presented at American Geophysical Union 1996 Spring Meeting, Baltimore, May, 1997
K-12 science education reform and the implications for undergraduate teaching, Space Physics Seminar presented at UCLA, April 11, 1997
Science for All Children, Panel member, special session by the National Science Resources Center, National Science Teachers Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, March 4, 1997.
Science education reform, Physics Department Colloquium presented at Bucknell University, April 1, 1997.
Science education reform and what it means for your job, Physics Department Colloquium presented at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, March 27, 1997.
Roles for scientists in K-12 science education reform, Banquet presentation at the annual meeting of the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science, Cincinnati, Ohio, January 10, 1997
Space Weather and National Standards: Where do we fit in?, paper presented at American Geophysical Union 1996 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December, 1996.
Science education reform and what it means for your job, Physics Department Colloquium presented at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, October 2, 1996.
3-D MHD Simulation of the March 9, 1995 substorm: Energy Storage and Release, Paper presented at "Encounter Between Global Observations and Models in the ISTP Era (Huntsville '96)", Guntersville, AL, September 11, 1996.
Conference Overview and Synthesis: Teachers and Physics Departments, paper presented at the International Conference on Undergraduate Physics Education, University of Maryland, College Park, August 3, 1996.
Issues in Science Education Reform, Physics Department Colloquium presented at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, April 25, 1996.
Science Education Reform, Physics Department Colloquium presented at Florida State University, March 22, 1996.
Issues in Science Education Reform, Seminar presented at The Ohio State University, October 30, 1995
Reform of Elementary Science Education and Roles for Scientists, Colloquium presented at University of Delaware Graduate College of Marine Studies, Lewes Delaware, September 12, 1995.
Reform in Undergraduate Physics Education, Paper presented at the meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, College Park, MD, June 25, 1995.
National Trends in Science Education and the Opportunity for Space Science to Contribute, Paper presented at the Spring Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Baltimore, May 31, 1995.
K-12 science education reform and the implications for undergraduate teaching, Paper presented at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, December 5, 1994.
On the role of reconnection during substorms, Paper presented at the International Conference on Substorms, II, Fairbanks, Alaska, March 9, 1994.
Evidence for particle acceleration during substorms, Paper presented at IAU Colloquium #142, "Particle Acceleration in Astrophysical Plasmas", University of Maryland, College Park, January 11, 1993.
On the location of the substorm initiation region, Paper presented at the World Space Congress, Washington, DC, September 29, 1992.
Magnetospheric Substorms, Seminar presented at the Gordon Conference on Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Plymouth, New Hampshire, 14 July, 1992.
Magnetospheric substorms and the inner magnetotail, Seminar presented at the Laboratory for Plasma Research, University of Maryland, College Park, April 12, 1992.
On the relative importance of magnetospheric and ionospheric processes during substorm breakup and expansion: A case study, Paper presented at the International Conference on Substorms, I, Kiruna, Sweden, March 25, 1992.
Observations of Magnetospheric Substorms, Seminar presented at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, February 4, 1992.
Near-Earth Substorm Observations, Paper presented at the Alaska Workshop on Magnetospheric Substorms, Fairbanks, Alaska, September 17, 1991.
Substorm Observations in the near-Earth Magnetotail, Paper presented at the Spring Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Baltimore, May 30, 1991.
Multipoint Substorm Observations, Seminar presented at the Institute for Nuclear Research, Moscow State University on June 18, 1990, and at the Space Research Institute, Moscow, on June 20, 1990.
Implications of Multipoint Observations of Substorms in the Inner Magnetosphere, Paper presented at the Joint Workshop for Plasma Astrophysics, Telavi, Georgia, USSR, June 6, 1990.
Magnetospheric Substorms, Seminar presented at Princeton Laboratory for Plasma Physics, Princeton, New Jersey, September 14, 1989.
Affiliations
Memberships
American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
American Physical Society (APS)
National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP)
Soc. for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
Appointments
Duration
Rank
Department / School
College / Office
University / Company
2007-Current
Professor
Department of Physics
College of Science
The University of Texas at Arlington
2004-2007
Professor
Department of Physics and Space Sciences
Florida Institute of Technology
1999-2004
C. Sharp Cook Distinguished Professor
Department of Physics
The University of Texas at El Paso
1999-2001
Chair
Department of Physics
The University of Texas at El Paso
1994-1999
Director
Education and Outreach Programs
The American Physical Society
1993-1999
Associate Research Scientist
Department of Astronomy
University of Maryland at College Park
1993-1994
Assistant Director for Research
East-West Space Science Center
University of Maryland at College Park
1992-1993
Research Associate
Department of Astronomy
University of Maryland at College Park
1985-1992
Scientist (various ranks)
Applied Research Corporation (on contract to The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)
1985-1985
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Space Physics and Astronomy
Rice University
Synergistic Activities
Member, Scientific Organizing Committee for Living With a Star Combined Data Analysis Workshop, held at Florida Institute of Technology, March 5-9, 2007; Chair, Local Organizing Committee.
Chair, APS Committee on Education and representative to APS Physics Policy Committee, 2006; Member, Committee on Education, The American Physical Society, January 2003 – December 2006
Working Group leader for Prediction of Geomagnetic Storms, Living With a Star Combined Data Analysis Workshop, George Mason University, March 15-18, 2005.
Member, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Ad-Hoc Committee on Strategic Guidance for NSF's Support of the Atmospheric Sciences, National Research Council, August 2004 – December 2006.
Reviewer, NRC Research Associate program, 2005.
Opponent, Ph.D. defense for Minna Palmroth “Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Interactions as Determined by Observation and a Global MHD Simulation”, Finnish Meteorological Institute and the University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, June 18, 2003
Member, Committee on Undergraduate Science Education, National Research Council, February 2002 – January 2004
Member, Advisory Committee on Physics Programs, American Institute of Physics, January 2003 -January 2006.
Chair (2005), APS Forum on Education (served in Chair line 2003-2006), Member, Executive Committee, APS Representative at Large, March 2000 – March 2003
Co-Chair, AAPT Conference "The Introductory Calculus-based Physics Course", Arlington, VA, October 31 - November 2, 2003
Council of Advisors, Astronomy Education Review, December 2001 -present
Chair, Panel on Education and Society, Decadal Survey on Solar and Space Physics, Committee on Solar and Space Physics of the National Research Council, December 2000 – June 2003
Chair, Sub-Commission D3, Magnetospheres, COSPAR, July 2000 – July 2004
Organizer of sessions on space physics and science education at the 2002 World Space Congress in Houston, and 2004 COSPAR meeting in Paris.
Chair, Committee on Minorities, The American Physical Society, January 2003 – December 2003; Member, January 2001 – December 2002
Member, Advisory Committee Interagency Education Research Initiative for Academic Achievement and Teacher Development, Tennessee State University, January 2002-August 2006.
Member, Board of Directors, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) January, 2000 – December 2002.
Chair, Education Committee, Space Physics and Aeronomy (SPA) section of the AGU, May 1992 - May 1996, Member, May, 1991 – May, 1996; also Member, May 2006 – present.
Member, Board of Directors, Insights Science Museum, El Paso, Texas, December 1999 – June 2004.
Member, SPA Executive Committee, May, 1992 - May 1996.
Member, Committee on Education and Human Resources, AGU, Sept. 1992 - May 1998.
Chair, Subcommittee on Minorities in Geophysics, AGU, Jan. 1993 - July 1994.
Chair, Editorial Advisory Board for Earth and Space, AGU, May 1995 - May 1998, Member, September 1992 - May, 1995.
Member, Educational Advisory Committee, Center for the Enhancement of Science and Mathematics Education, Boston, MA, July 1993 – June 2000.
Member, Board of Directors, Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado June 1992 – June 2001
U.S. Chair, U.S.-Finland Auroral Workshop Organizing Committee, April, 1991 - April 1996, Co-convenor, 1992 U.S.-Finland Auroral Workshop, Terahovi, Finland
Convenor of several scientific sessions at Fall and Spring AGU meetings, and also at the IAGA Symposium, Buenos Aires, 1993.
Member, Steering Committees for the “International Conference on Undergraduate Physics Education” (1996) and the “Conference on Revitalizing Undergraduate Physics Education” (1998).
Member, Organizing Committee for “Encounter Between Global Observations and Models in the ISTP Era” (1996), and “The New Millennium Magnetosphere: Integrating Imaging, Discrete Observations, and Global Simulations” (1998).
Part-time staff with the National Science Resources Center, Washington, D. C., June 1992 - June 1994, Consultant, June 1994 - July 1996.
Consultant to The Discovery Channel as subject matter expert for the educational videodisc "The Solar Sea" October, 1992 - March, 1993.
Consultant to various school districts and organizations
Montgomery County Public Schools, MD, Harrison School District, Colorado Springs, CO, Gilbert Public Schools, Gilbert, AZ, Arlington ISD, Arlington, TX, Texas Education Agency, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the National Science Foundation, the Center for Urban Science Education Reform, the American Physical Society, and the Brookings Institution.
Reviewer of papers submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research, Geophysical Research Letters, Planetary and Space Science, Annales Geophysicae, Advances in Space Research, Space Science Reviews, several refereed conference proceedings and AGU monographs
Reviewer of proposals to NSF, NASA, DOE, The Research Corporation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Reviewer, Science Standards, California and Maryland, 1998.
Member, Program Committee, Division of Plasma Physics (APS), 1999 DPP meeting.
Member, Site Visit Teams, NSF, Educational Systemic Reform.
Numerous presentations, in a variety of settings, on science education, the nature of scientific inquiry, and implementing and sustaining science education reform.
Support
Duration
Title
Sponsor
Amount
Status
2007-2012
CO-P.I. Center for Integrated Space weather Modeling (CISM), Boston University
NSF, Science and Technology Center
$20 million
Current
2007-2012
P.I. Subcontract for Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM)
Subcontract from Boston University
$820,000
Current
2006-2008
P.I. “Pilot Project for Research in Visualization for Geoscience Education”
NSF
$124,022
Current
2002-2007
P.I. Subcontract for Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM)
Subcontract from Boston University
$1.3 million
Previous
2002-2007
CO-P.I. Center for Integrated Space weather Modeling (CISM), Boston University
NSF CO-P.I. Center for Integrated Space weather Modeling (CScience and Technology Cent
$20 million
Previous
2002-2005
P.I. Readiness And Development of Academics and Research (RADAR): Talent for weather and space technologies
subcontract for Howard University on NOAA grant
$525,290
Previous
2002-2003
CO-P.I. “A Conference on the Introductory Calculus-Based Physics Course”
NSF
$67,024
Previous
2001-2004
P.I. “Connecting Sun City with Sun-Earth Connections”
NASA
$672,000
Previous
2001-2004
P.I. “Studies of solar wind-magnetosphere coupling through detailed comparison of observations and results of global MHD simulations”
NASA
$276,000
Previous
2000-2002
P.I. “Coordination of Integrated Space Weather Modeling”
subcontract from Boston University NSF grant
$50,000
Previous
1999-2000
P.I. “Data assimilative analysis of GGS data set using global MHD models”
ISTP/GI NASA
$20,000
Previous
1998-2001
CO-P.I. “K-12 Education workshop for scientists and Engineers” (P. Dusenbery PI, Space Science Institute, Boulder CO)
NASA
$340,000
Previous
1998-2001
P.I. “K-12 Education workshop for scientists and Engineers”
subcontract from Space Science Institute
$63,000
Previous
1997-2002
Co-P.I. “Science Connections” (G. Consuegra PI, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD, Local Systemic Change for Middle School science reform)
NSF
$1,400,000
Previous
1997-2002
P.I. “Science Connections”
subcontract from Montgomery County Public Schools
$78,000
Previous
1997-2000
P.I. “Science Education Instructional Materials for ISTP/Solarmax”
NASA
$169,000
Previous
1997-1999
P.I. “Data assimilative analysis of GGS data set using global MHD models”
ISTP/GI NASA
$60,000
Previous
1996-1999
P.I. “Detailed quantitative comparison between global MHD models and observations”
NASA
$90,000
Previous
1996-1999
P.I. “Precision studies of the sequence of events during substorms”
NSF
$117,000
Previous
1996-1999
PI (at the APS) “Teacher Scientist Alliance Institutes”
NSF
$198,000
Previous
1993-1996
P.I. “Electric Space: Exploring the plasma universe”
NSF grant subcontract from the Space Science Institute
$71,000
Previous
1993-1996
P.I. “Precollege education workshop for space scientists”
NASA
$48,000
Previous
1992-1996
P.I. “Studies of westward electrojets and field-aligned currents in the magnetosphere during substorms - Implications for magnetic field models”
NASA
$120,000
Previous
1991-1994
P.I. “Global multipoint studies of substorm initiation and expansion”
NASA
$185,000
Previous
2004
P.I. “Sun City and Sun-Earth Connections: Using space science and educational outreach to recruit the next generation of scientists”
NASA
$275,000
Previous
1993
CO-P.I. “Nuclear electric propulsion space test program environmental impact working group” (R. Sagdeev PI)
The SOHO website SOHO is a joint ESA/NASA space mission to study the Sun. Go here for pictures of the Sun like you have never seen!
Organizations/Centers/Projects that focus on K-12 Science Education Reform
National Academy of Sciences (click on Education) Here you will find the National Science Education Standards on-line, as well as products of the National Science Resources Center, such as Science for All Children, which describes a model for reforming science education in elementary schools. In fact, all National Academy Press Documents are on-line in their entirety.
American Association for the Advancement of Science Project 2061 AAAS has run a project called 2061 (the year of next perihelion for Comet Halley) since 1985 (the year of last perihelion for Comet Halley) with the (I think correct) assumption that this is the appropriate timescale for thinking about education reform in this country. They have produced a set of standards, Benchmarks for Science Literacy, that are very complementary to the NAS standards. Project 2061 documents are on-line under "quick links".
National Science Resources Center The National Science Resources Center (NSRC) is jointly sponsored by the National Acadedmy of Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution, and it has been working for years to improve elementary science education around the country by collecting information about existing instructional materials, creating new ones (the Science and Technology for Children series) with funding from the NSF, and helping school systems develop plans to implement a high quality program district-wide.
The National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation operates a number of programs for science education. Find these under the Directorate "Education and Human Resources".
National Institute for Science Education NISE is an organization funded by the NSF. They do research in science education, produce documents, some of which are on-line, and others that are not, such as the book Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics, which I recommend.
TERC TERC is an education R&D site that produces curriculum materials, provides professional development to teachers, etc. It was a leader in the early micro-computer-based laboratories that are so important now in physics education.
TEECH-LSC This site is run out of TERC for the benefit of Local Systemic Change projects that were funded by the NSF. The LSCs were not funded bythe Division of Systemic Reform, but rather by Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education (both divisions are within EHR). While this program is over, many of the LSC efforts represent the most comprehensive and effective systemic reform projects ever implemented. Though dated, this site still has lots of important information.
Physics Education Research at the University of Maryland This site is the best place on the web to start if you are looking for information on physics education research, which investigates student understanding of physics and develops instructional strategies that can be shown to help students get past conceptual difficulties they may have with physics. Most of this work is done by physicists in physics departments. The group at the University of Maryland is one of the best in the country, and their site has tons of links to other groups, on-line research papers, and additional resources.
American Physical Society Education Department This site has information on the education programs of the APS and a link the APS Forum on Education. Be sure to take a look at the special inset for APS News on education, which is on-line here, and the reports of the Departments Chairs' conferences on graduate and undergraduate education.
American Association of Physics Teachers AAPT is the professional society that concerns itself with the teaching of physics and also research in physics education. There is something on this site called the Physical Science Resouces Center that has information on curriculum materials for teaching physical science.
Additional Information
Awards
NSF Minority Graduate Fellowship, 1980
Space Foundation Space Industrial Fellowships, 1981, 1982
NASA Group Achievement Award, AMPTE mission operations, June 14, 1990
Outstanding Service to Education, Montgomery County MD Public Schools, 1992
Member, Sigma Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, Initiated, April 9, 1995
NASA Group Achievement Award, Global Geospace Science, University of Maryland Theory Investigation Team, June 16, 1998
Scientist in Education Achievement Award, awarded by the Space Science Institute, Boulder CO, April 13, 1999
Fellow of the American Physical Society, Elected Fall 1999
American Physical Society Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Service to Science, 2002
14th Malmstrom Lecturer, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN, May 6, 2005
2006 Benson Lecturer, Miami University, Oxford, OH, March 6, 2006
Museum Exhibits
Consultant and local point of contact for Electric Space: The Plasma Universe (750 sqft.), opened April, 1994 at the Maryland Science Center, Baltimore MD; toured for 4 years.
Co-Designer, Electric Space: Bolts, Volts, and Jolts from the Sun (3800 sqft.), opened August 1996 at the NOAA Visitor Center, Silver Spring, MD; toured science museums for 5 years.
Thesis advisor: Past graduate students
Roberto Arceo, M.S. in 2003 from UTEP (now at NM State University as a Ph.D. student) Elia Benitez-Marquez, M.S. in 2002 from UTEP Robert Bruntz, M.S. from UTEP in 2005 (now employed at UTA) John Hernandez, M.S. from UTEP in 2005 Plamen Krastev, M.S. from UTEP in 2003 (Ph.D., University of Idaho, August 2006) Alejandro Lugo-Solis, M.S. from UTEP in 2003 (now at University of NM as a Ph.D. student) Ismael Diaz (now 4th year graduate student at Fl Tech) Salvador Hernandez, Ph.D., 2007 from Fl Tech (now employed at Tyco Electronics).
Thesis advisor: Current graduate students at UTA
Sandra Brogl (completing Ph.D. at Fl Tech) Robert Bruntz (part-time graduate student) Ximena Cid Jorge Landivar Elizabeth Mitchell Brianna Upton
Important Disclaimer: The responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained on these pages lies with the authors and user providing such information.
Faculty Profile
Mail Box: 19059, SH 
