Robert Wicks

I received my PhD in Physics form the University of Warwick in 2009 studying solar wind turbulence and non-linear phenomena in plasmas.The main focus of my research is the solar wind and the effects of changing solar activity on the Earth. These two processes generate Space Weather, the dynamically changing environment of outer space around the Earth, that can have far-reaching implications for human life and society. I am particularly interested in how the high-speed streams of plasma that make up the solar wind are generated, heated and accelerated by the Sun, and how they interact, expand and eventually buffet the Earth. The solar wind is the medium through which energetic radiation, generated by solar flares and also by astrophysical processes outside the solar system, must pass to reach the Earth, and so understanding the solar wind better will allow us to better predict the radiation environment around the Earth.