Louise Harra

Louise Harra is a British physicist, born in Lurgan, Northern Ireland. She graduated from Queen's University, Belfast with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Maths and Physics and a PhD in Physics. She is professor of solar physics at University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory.^[1][2]

Research interests

Harra's research interests include:

• Trigger for solar flares and coronal mass ejections
• Formation of the solar wind
• Sun-Earth connection

Space missions

Harra has been involved in a number of space missions in her career. These include:

• The Japanese/US/UK space mission Yohkoh, Instrument Scientist based in Japan.
• The JAXA/NASA/UK/ESA mission Hinode, Prinicpal Investigator of the EUV Imaging Spectrometer.
• The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission, co-Principal Investigator for the EUV Imager.

Media

Harra has given radio and TV interviews. These include:

• 2014 Radio 4, 'In our time' interview with Melvyn Bragg^[3]
• 2014 Australian Broadcasting Cooperation Science Show with Robyn Williams

Awards

• 2015: RAS group achievement award for the Hinode EIS instrument.
• 2014: The Sir Arthur C Clarke Award, Space Achievement (Academic Study/Research) for her leadership in the UK and internationally of the exploitation of data from the Japanese Hinode spacecraft and her leadership of the upcoming EUI telescope on Solar Orbiter..^[4]
• 2014: The Royal Astronomical Society's Chapman Medal, for single investigations of outstanding merit in solar-terrestrial physics, including geomagnetism and aeronomy.^[5]

References

1. "Louise Harra". ucl.ac.uk. 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
2. "Iris View Profile". iris.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
3. "In Our Time Interview on The Sun".
4. "Winners of the 2014 awards".
5. "Winners of the 2014 awards, medals and prizes - full details". ras.org.uk. 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014. Awards, Medals and Prizes