Paul Cassak, an assistant professor of theoretical and computational plasma physics in West Virginia University’s Department of Physics, is available to discuss the recent solar flares and their potential impact on Earth.

A solar storm caused by the solar flares on Tuesday is now hitting earth. NASA has warned that the potentially “severe geomagnetic storm” could disrupt power grids, radio communications, and GPS as well as spark dazzling auroras.

Cassak earned a bachelor of science in mathematics and physics from the University of Arizona and a master of science in physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He completed his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Maryland, College Park in December of 2006 and was was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Delaware until July 2007 when he came to WVU.

He studies magnetic reconnection and its applications using analytical techniques, large scale numerical simulations, and observational data as appropriate. Applications of reconnection are many; solar eruptions (flares and CMEs) and similar eruptions on other sun-like stars, substorms and solar wind-magnetospheric coupling in the geomagnetic magnetic field (relevant to the field of space weather), disruptive events in fusion plasmas, and various astrophysical settings.

He can be reached by phone at 304.293.5102 or by email at paul.cassak@mail.wvu.edu

-WVU-

jb/03/08/12

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