Alumnus to Present 2011 Woods Lecture

Westminster College's Department of Physics will host Dr. Brian Sullivan for the 24th annual Woods Memorial Lecture Wednesday, May 4, at 7 p.m. in Phillips Lecture Hall of the Hoyt Science Resources Center.

A reception will be held in the Phillips Lecture Hall lobby at 6:45 p.m.  The reception and talk are free and open to the public.

Sullivan, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans & Space at the University of New Hampshire, will present "Space Weather: From the Sun to the Earth."

The same process that governs explosions on the sun also mediates the onset of geomagnetic storms and other geospace phenomena collectively known as "space weather."  The presentation will present a historical overview of the progress in understanding space weather and the physics of magnetized plasmas.

Sullivan, a 2003 Westminster graduate in physics and mathematics, earned a Ph.D. in physics and astronomy from Dartmouth College.  His research interests include theoretical and computational plasma physics, magnetic reconnection, turbulence, the geodynamo, parallel computing, physics pedagogy, and the use of technology in education.

The Woods Memorial Lecture honors Dr. Robert M. Woods, professor of physics at Westminster College from 1947-1972.  It is made possible by a gift from the Woods family that has been supplemented over the years by gifts from friends and alumni.

Contact Westminster's Department of Physics at (724) 946-7200 for additional information.

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