Louise Harra

Louise Harra is an Northern Irish physicist, born in Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. She is the Director of PMOD/WRC [1][2] and affiliated professor at the Institute of Particle Physics and Astrophysics of the ETH.

Louise Harra in 2020

Education

Louise Harra was born in County Armagh, and she attendeded later Banbridge Academy.[3]

She graduated from The Queen's University of Belfast with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Maths and Physics and a PhD in Physics.

Academic career and research interests


She was a professor of solar physics at University College, London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory[4][5] until 2019, with much of her career being involved in space instruments. She was prinicipal investigator (PI) of the EUV Imaging Spectrometer instrument on the Hinode spacecraft from 2006-2019. She is co-PI of the Solar Orbiter EUV Imager.

In 2019 she moved to take on the position of director at PMOD/WRC and affiliated professor at ETH-Zurich.

Harra's research interests include solar flares and coronal mass ejections, formation of the solar wind and Sun-Earth connection. Her research makes use of spectroscopic and imaging observations to quantify the characteristics and behaviour of solar flares and the solar wind.

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,[2][6] co-Principal Investigator for the EUV Imager.

Media

Harra has given radio and TV interviews. These include:

Awards
  • 2017: Robinson medal presented by Armagh Observatory.[8]
  • 2016: Daiwa-Adrian prize for UK-Japan research.
  • 2015: RAS group achievement award for the Hinode EIS instrument.
  • 2014: The Sir Arthur 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.[9]
  • 2014: The Royal Astronomical Society's Chapman Medal, for single investigations of outstanding merit in solar-terrestrial physics, including geomagnetism and aeronomy.[10]
  • 2003: Philip Leverhulme Award– this award, in the Astronomy and Astrophysics category, recognises young scholars of substantial distinction and promise.

References
  1. "Prof. Louise Harra". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  2. Amos, Jonathan (30 January 2020). "Sun's surface seen in remarkable new detail". BBC News. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  3. J Michael T Thompson (ed.). "Advances In Astronomy: From The Big Bang To The Solar System". p. 390.
  4. "Louise Harra". ucl.ac.uk. 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  5. "Iris View Profile". iris.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  6. Stewart, Linda (6 February 2020). "Meet the Northern Ireland astrophysicist hoping to shed new light on the Sun". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  7. "In Our Time Interview on The Sun".
  8. https://armaghplanet.com/the-2018-robinson-lecture-professor-louise-harra-tells-us-about-how-astronomers-research-the-sun.html
  9. "Winners of the 2014 awards".
  10. "Winners of the 2014 awards, medals and prizes - full details". ras.org.uk. 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014. Awards, Medals and Prizes
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