The Teams

Education

Ph.D. in Applied Physics, Stanford University, 1996

B.A. in Physics, Reed College, 1989

PUNCH Role

Leads the PUNCH team and is responsible for ensuring programmatic, technical, and scientific success in all aspects of the PUNCH mission.

Professional Background and Supporting Experience

Craig DeForest is Southwest Research Institute’s Program Director for solar astrophysics, and the Vice-Chair of the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Physics Division (AAS/SPD). He holds an adjunct professorship at the University of Colorado.

DeForest has studied the Sun, its corona, and the solar wind for over 30 years. His graduate studies at Stanford University (1989-1995) centered on the Multi-Spectral Solar telescope Array, a sounding rocket that helped pioneer EUV imaging of the solar corona. He was Resident Observer (at NASA/GSFC) for the Michelson Doppler Imager experiment on the SOHO mission from 1995-1999; during this time he explored dynamics of the corona and the limits of solar observing in the faint outer corona. Between 2000-2016, he led several ground and suborbital instrument development efforts including SHAZAM (a novel high-speed magnetograph), DASH (a ground-based demonstration heliospheric imaging observatory), and SSIPP (a balloon-borne miniature solar observatory). From 1999-2016, was Press Officer for the AAS/SPD, after which he stepped down to lead PUNCH.

DeForest is well known for his expertise in solar data analysis and reduction. He developed the analysis tools that enabled the current era of photometric heliospheric imaging, and has exploited them with a series of groundbreaking papers. Major milestones include: (1997) first detection of traveling waves in the solar corona; (2001) imaging of faint polar plumes to the limits of the LASCO field of view; (2009) demonstration that the EUV corona is more spatially variable than previously thought; (2011) first background-subtracted heliospheric images useful for feature photometry; (2012) first complete tracking from Sun to Earth of a single CME, and demonstration of the solar origin of CME plasma at Earth; (2014) sensitive detection of inbound features in the outer solar corona using 2-D velocity filtration; (2015) measurement of solar wind turbulence via comet tail tracking; (2016) detection of the breakup of coronal structure and transition to solar wind flow, 0.2 AU from the Sun; (2017) remote measurement of CME chirality, via 3D polarized imaging; (2018) discovery of very highly structured fine detail in the outer solar corona using deep-field campaign data from STEREO/COR2.

Selected Publications Relevant to PUNCH

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2018: The Highly Structured Outer Solar Corona, APJ 862, 18

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2017: 3D Polarized Imaging of CMEs: Chirality of a CME, APJ 850, 130

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2016: Fading coronal structure and the…young solar wind, APJ 828, 66

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2016: The utility of polarized heliospheric imaging for space weather monitoring, Sp. Wx. 14, 1.

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2015: Turbulence…Solar Wind...Comet Tail Test Particles, APJ 812, 108

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2015: Feasibility of Heliospheric Imaging from Near Earth, APJ 804, 126

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2014: Inbound waves … Alfvén surface location, APJ 787, 124

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2013: Tracking Features from the Low Corona to Earth, APJ 769, 43

Howard, T.A., Tappin, S.J., Odstrcil, D., & DeForest, C.E. 2013: The Thomson Surface. III: Tracking Features in 3D, APJ 765, 45

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2012: Disconnecting Solar Magnetic Flux, APJ 745, 36

Howard, T.A., & DeForest, C.E. 2012: The Thomson Surface. I: Reality & Myth, APJ 752, 130.

Howard, T.A. & DeForest, C.E. 2012: Inner Heliospheric Flux Rope Evolution via Imaging of Coronal Mass Ejections, APJ 746, 64

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2011: Detailed Structure in the Solar Wind ..., APJ 738, 103

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2001: Observation of Polar Plumes at High … Altitudes, APJ 546, 569

DeForest, C.E. et al. 2001: Polar Plume Lifetime and Coronal Hole Expansion, APJ 560, 490

Full CV

Education

M.A. Linguistics, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2013

B.A. English Literature, Azusa Pacific University, 2011

Professional Background

Specialist, Southwest Research Institute, 2019 – present

Lecturer, Program for Writing & Rhetoric, CU Boulder, 2013-2019

Lecturer, TESOL Certificate Program, Linguistics, CU Boulder, 2017-2019

Team Coach, Flatirons Gymnastics Center, 2011-2019

PUNCH Role

Conduct PUNCH mission schedule analysis, tracking, and reporting.

Experience Relevant to PUNCH

Prior to her work with PUNCH Ms. Campbell worked for the University of Colorado at Boulder teaching a wide array of writing and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) courses in which she helped manage undergraduate students’ projects and adherence to deadlines.

Education

Ph.D. in Astrophysics, University of Colorado-Boulder, 1995

M.S. in Astrophysics, University of Colorado-Boulder, 1993

B.S. in Physics, Stanford University, 1989

Professional Background

HAO Deputy Director, 2020-2021

HAO Interim Director, 2019-2020

HAO Solar Section Head, 2010-2019

HAO Scientist, 2001-present

Research Assistant Professor The Catholic University of America, 1998-1999; 2000-2001

NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge, 1999-2000

NRC Postdoctoral Fellow, NASA GSFC,1996-1998

Awards

Karen Harvey Prize, for outstanding early career contributions

PUNCH Role

Organize and lead the PUNCH Science Team and interface between the Science Team and the PI. Track and maintain observing requirements driven by the Science Objectives.

Experience Relevant to PUNCH

Dr. Sarah Gibson examines solar drivers of the space environment, from short-term space weather drivers such as coronal mass ejections, to long-term solar cycle variation.

Dr. Gibson has extensive experience leading scientific teams. She led the international Whole Sun Month (WSM) and Whole Heliosphere Interval (WHI) coordinated observing and modeling efforts to characterize the 3D interconnected solar-heliospheric-planetary system at solar minimum, and is currently leading a multi-institutional effort to quantify the magnetic field of the Sun’s atmosphere. She has led ISSI International Teams on the subjects of Prominence Cavities and Coronal Magnetism, and is responsible for the oversight and ongoing development of the FORWARD SolarSoft IDL code suite, with input from more than a dozen community authors. Dr. Gibson participated in the Nov. 1997 and Nov. 1998 flights of the Spartan space shuttle payload in support of the white-light coronagraph.

Supporting Experience

Dr. Gibson uses theoretical models to understand the magnetic origins of CMEs and related space weather phenomena. A particular focus is observations and models of coronal prominence cavities, which are long-lived structures in the Sun’s atmosphere that store the magnetic energy liberated in CMEs.

Selected Publications Relevant to PUNCH

Gibson, S.E., de Toma, G., Emery, B., Riley, P., Zhao, L.,

Elsworth, Y., Leamon, R. J., Lei, J., McIntosh, S., Mewaldt, R. A., Thompson, B. J., and Webb, D. F., (2011), WHI in the context of current solar minimum, Solar Physics, 274, 10.1007/s11207- 011-9921-4.

Gibson, S.E., Kozyra, J. U., De Toma, G., Emery, B. A., Onsager, T., and Thompson, B. J., If the Sun is so quiet, why is the Earth ringing? A comparison of two solar minimum intervals (2009), JGR, 114, A09105.

Gibson, S.E. & Fan, Y., Partially-ejected flux ropes: implications for interplanetary coronal mass ejections (2008), JGR, 113, CiteID A09103.

Full CV

Education

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2006

Professional Background

Sr. Research Engineer, Space Science Department, Southwest Research institute, 2015-present

Research Engineer, Space Science Department, Southwest Research institute, 2009-2015

Engineer, Space Science Department, 2007-2009

PUNCH Role

Systems Engineering for the PUNCH Observatories.

Experience Relevant to PUNCH

Mr. Wells has over 16 years of experience across payload, spacecraft, and mission systems engineering. He excels in requirements management, verification and validation. He architected and administrated the CYGNSS requirements database containing all spacecraft and payload requirements through level 5. He has led or contributed to a wide varietyof mission level analyses with a focus on orbital dynamics and constellation operations. He has AI&T experience across all levels from component, to spacecraft, to launch vehicle integration and is presently the Systems Engineering Lead for the CYGNSS Earth Venture mission.

Supporting Experience

Mr. Wells supported all phases of the CYGNSS mission from proposal through operations. He designed and optimized the separation sequence for the 8 CYGNSS observatories deployed from a single Launch Vehicle (LV) and worked with the LV provider to ensure that launch and separation performance met mission requirements. He chaired the CYGNSS Materials and Processes Control Board. He was a core member of the CYGNS AI&T and Launch & Early Operations teams. Over the past year he has supported all aspects of CYGNSS operations from routine day-to-day planning, development of new FSW capabilities, and anomaly resolution. Prior to CYGNSS Mr. Wells supported many aspects of the payload systems engineering effort for the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. He co- architected and administrated the requirements database and managed the mechanical interfaces for all instruments (22 unique interfaces). He led all aspects of the design and test of the MMS Instrument Suite Purge System (both ground and flight systems). He is highly proficient in AGI’s STK® for mission design and analyses as well the DOORS® requirements tool including custom DXL scripting.

Selected Publications Relevant to PUNCH

Rose, R., Wells, W., et al "NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) Mission – Temporal Resolution of a Constellation Enabled by Micro- Satellite Technology," in AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellite Logan, Logan, 2013.

Education

M.S. Meteorology and Oceanography, Naval Postgraduate School, 2011

B.A. Physics Education, Brigham Young University, 1999

A.S., Ricks College, 1994

Professional Background

Mr. Cheney taught math and science at the High School and Junior High School level in Utah from 1998-2000.

He served on active duty in the Navy from 2000-2020. While in the Navy he taught physics and reactor physics at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, worked as a meteorologist providing forecasts for Naval assets from 2004-2009 and again 2011-2012. He worked at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency from 2013-2015. He worked with the DoD Space Test Program from 2015-2018 and finished his naval career at Naval Research Laboratory.

While working with the DoD Space Test Program, Mr. Cheney managed the mission design which included the government rideshare working group. His responsibilities included designing rideshare missions, both with hosted payloads and rideshare launch. Everything that is launched by this organization became rideshare. He also helped manage over 30 experiments from the Navy by making sure they were prepared to fly as a rideshare on missions of opportunity. He also managed 4 different launch missions, each having different challenges and issues regarding launch and rideshare compatibility.

Mr. Cheney started at NASA in July 2020 as a Program Executive serving in the Heliophysics Division as part of the SMD Rideshare Office. He manages the Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) and Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) projects and all Heliophysics CubeSat missions.

Professional Background

For the past two decades, Madhulika (Lika) has led the development of Heliophysics as an integrated scientific discipline from which fundamental discoveries about our universe provide direct societal benefits. As the Lead for the Living With a Star (LWS) program for 16 years (2001-2016), she made possible the flagship missions (e.g. the Solar Dynamics Observatory, Van Allen Probes, Solar Orbiter Collaboration and Parker Solar Probe) including STEREO that would revolutionize our understanding of how the Sun shapes space weather in the solar system.

Since 2017, she was the driving force at NASA Headquarters and at NASA Ames behind the growth of Frontier Development Laboratory, both in terms of the breadth of problem areas tackled as well as in the number of agency and industry partners (e.g. Google, Nvidia, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Planet). The types of innovative solutions include virtual telescopes, data fusion, edge computing, and autonomy and this approach will have an enduring imprint on the way science and exploration is carried out by future generations. She is presently (2020) a Senior Advisor for New Initiatives at Goddard Space Flight Center, and Program Scientist at HQ, HPD.

Education

Ph.D. in Astronomy, Boston University, 2010

M.A. in Astronomy, Boston University, 2007

B.S. in Astronomy and Physics, University of Washington, 2004

Professional Background

Research Astrophysicist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 2012 - present

NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 2010 - 2012

Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Astronomy, Boston University, 2005 - 2010

Awards

Karen Harvey Prize, for outstanding early- career contributions

PUNCH Role

Lead analysis and interpretation of PUNCH data on solar wind variability, turbulence, and microstructure; analyze shock images.

Experience Relevant to PUNCH

Dr. Viall-Kepko is an expert in time series analysis, image processing, and connecting remote observations to those made in situ in order to understand Sun-Earth interactions. Beginning with the research for her dissertation, “Periodic Solar Wind Density Structures”, she has examined Sun-Earth connections, analyzing in situ magnetospheric and solar wind data and connecting those observations with solar wind structures observed in white light imaging data taken with inner Heliospheric Imager and Outer Coronagraph on STEREO/SECCHI (abbreviation). This research shows how high resolution white light imaging data can help to pin down the origin of the slow solar wind and predict the ‘quiescent’ space weather impacting the Earth even on quiet days.

Supporting Experience

Dr. Viall-Kepko uses her time series and image processing expertise to investigate the properties of coronal heating with imaging data and hydrodynamic simulations. Her community service is extensive, having served on Eduardo Sanchez- Diaz’s dissertation committee, gave 80 interviews for the 2017 total solar eclipse, was a SHINE student representative and a representative for the Outstanding Student Paper Awards given by the American Geophysical Union.

Selected Publications Relevant to PUNCH

Viall, N.M., & A. Vourlidas, (2015) Periodic Density Structures and the Origin of the Slow Solar Wind, ApJ, 807, 176.

Viall, N.M., Spence, H., Vourlidas, A., & Howard, R., (2010) Examining Periodic Solar-Wind Density Structures Observed in the SECCHI Heliospheric Imagers, Solar Physics, 261, 175.

Viall, N.M., & Klimchuk, J. A., (2012) Evidence for Widespread Cooling in an Active Region Observed with the SDO Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, ApJ, 753, 35.

Viall, N.M., et al., (2009) Are periodic solar wind number density structures formed in the solar corona?, GRL, 36, L23102.