The ISR Seminar Series typically takes place on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. (note new day of the week!), in the ISR Conference Room, 202 Kenny Cottle Hall, 885 Centre St., Newton Campus of Boston College (click here for directions). Please join us for light refreshments at 10:15 a.m. To be added to the email announcements for the current series, contact Ted Beach (theodore dot beach at bc dot edu).
Fall 2026 Schedule (check back for more dates) - TUESDAYS
13 Oct 2026, 10:30am ET
HamSCI and the Personal Space Weather Project
Jay Weitzen, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
20 Oct 2026, 10:30am ET
Detecting the Cosmic 21 cm Signal
Jonathan Pober, Brown University
3 Nov 2026, 10:30am ET
Lessons Learned and Open Questions on Using GNSS Radio Occultation to Monitor Sporadic-E
Daniel Emmons, AFIT
17 Nov 2026, 10:30am ET
Radio Wave Scintillation Propagation Models and Applications
Theodore Beach, Boston College
The ISR Seminar Series typically takes place on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. in the ISR Conference Room, 202 Kenny Cottle Hall, 885 Centre St., Newton Campus of Boston College (click here for directions). Please join us for light refreshments at 10:15 a.m. To be added to the email announcements for the current series, contact Ted Beach (theodore dot beach at bc dot edu).
Spring 2026 Schedule
19 Mar 2026, 10:30am ET
Near-sunrise ionospheric irregularities during geomagnetic storms: Observations from Southeast Asia
Prayitno Abadi, Research Center for Climate and Atmosphere, BRIN, Indonesia & Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Boston College
Fall 2025 Schedule
11 Sep 2025, 10:30a ET
The Joint Spatio-Temporal Ionospheric Mapping Initiative (JSTIMI): Unlocking New Space Science Capabilities for the Asia-Oceania Region
Rezy Pradipta, Boston College
9 Oct 2025, 10:30a ET
On the Unified Theory of SAR Arcs and STEVE
Evgeny Mishin, Boston College
23 Oct 2025, 10:30a ET
Silicon Photonics for LiDAR Sensors, Augmented Reality, Biophotonics, Quantum Engineering, and Beyond
Jelena Notaros, MIT
6 Nov 2025, 10:30a ET
The PUNCH Mission: Overview and Early Results
David Webb, Boston College
20 Nov 2025, 10:30a ET
Studies of the upper atmosphere from low to subauroral latitudes using optical instruments in conjunction with satellite data
Carlos Martinis, Boston University
11 Dec 2025, 10:30a ET
AGU Previews
ISR presenters, Boston College
The ISR Seminar Series typically takes place on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m., in the ISR Conference Room, 202 Kenny Cottle Hall, 885 Centre St., Newton Campus of Boston College (click here for directions). Please join us for light refreshments at 10:15 a.m. To be added to the email announcements for the current series, contact Ted Beach (theodore dot beach at bc dot edu).
Spring 2025 Schedule
Thu, 30 Jan 2025, 10:30a ET
LEGO Approach to Incorporation of Local Disturbance “Pieces“ (“Quanta”) into the Large-Scale Development
Dr. Evgeny Mishin, Boston College, ISR
19 Feb 2025, 11:00a ET - Wednesday, NOTE SPECIAL DAY & TIME
Optical Aeronomy Instrumentation and Related Activities at UMass Lowell
Prof. Supriya Chakrabarti, University of Massachusetts Lowell
19 Mar 2025, 11:00a ET - Wednesday, NOTE SPECIAL DAY & TIME
Bay-side inundation and erosion of outwash channels on Texas barrier islands during Hurricanes Ike and Harvey
Prof. Kathleen Wilson, Boston College
Thu, 27 Mar 2025, 10:30a ET - POSTPONED - to be rescheduled
Silicon Photonics for LiDAR Sensors, Augmented Reality, Biophotonics, Quantum Engineering, and Beyond
Prof. Jelena Notaros, MIT
Thu, 10 Apr 2025, 10:30a ET
Mid and High-Latitude GPS Scintillation and Position Errors During Storms and Substorms
Prof. Toshi Nishimura, Boston University
Thu, 24 Apr 2025, 10:30a ET
Physics-Informed CNNs vs. FDTD for Modeling Rayleigh-Taylor Instabilities: A Vlasov-Poisson Equation Approach
Prof. Tomas Materdey, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Thu, 15 May 2025, 11:00a ET NOTE SPECIAL TIME
Studying GNSS scintillations using modeling and machine learning at high latitude
Prof. Kshitija Deshpande, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Thu, 12 Jun 2025, 11:00a ET NOTE SPECIAL TIME (rescheduled from May 22)
Exploring 21cm Cosmology with Pico Balloons
Prof. Baris Altunkaynak, Northeastern University
Please check back regularly as additional seminars may be added.
Fall 2024 Schedule
10 Oct 2024, 10:30 am ET
Ionospheric Model Validation for High Frequency Communications
Dr. Greg Ginet, MIT - Lincoln Laboratory
24 Oct 2024, 10:30 am ET
Data Visualization Research Support in the Earth Sciences
Dr. Kate Willis, Boston College
7 Nov 2024, 10:30 am ET
Bifurcation in Magnetized Plasma
Dr. Oleg Batishchev, Northeastern University
21 Nov 2024, 10:30 am ET
Ionospheric Structures and Irregularities during Sudden Stratopheric Warming Events
Dr. Cesar Valladares, Boston College
3 Dec 2024, 2:30 pm ET ***NOTE SPECIAL TIME & DATE***
A Precursor Survey of the Roman Galactic Bulge Time Domain Fields
Dr. Sean K. Terry, University of Maryland and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
5 Dec 2024, 10:30 am ET
AGU Preview
ISR members
Thu, 16 May 2024, 10:30a ET
NASA’s Geospace Dynamics Constellation—Providing the first Systematic Measurements of Global
Magnetospheric Energy Inputs and Ionosphere-Thermosphere Responses
Dr. Doug Rowland, NASA GSFC
Thu, 2 May 2024, 10:30a ET
Using AI Onboard Earth Observing Satellites for Fault Attribution and Remote Sensing
Prof. Kerri Cahoy, MIT
Thu, 25 Apr 2024, 10:30a ET
A Year in the Life: Studies of Scintillation Variability using a Long-Term Global Simulation by a Whole Atmosphere Model
Dr. John Retterer, BC Institute for Scientific Research
Thu, 14 Mar 2024, 10:30a ET
Equatorial Ionospheric D-Region Characterization using Tweeks observed in Sri Lanka
Prof. Ashanthi Maxworth, University of Southern Maine
Thu, 22 Feb 2024, 10:30a ET
Realistic Ionosphere (RION): Data Fusion of GIRO and GNSS Sensor Networks
Prof. Ivan Galkin, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Thu, 08 Feb 2024, 10:30a ET
The Variability of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles in Response to Forcing from Above and Below
Dr. Ercha Aa, MIT Haystack Observatory
Thu, 28 Sep 2023, 10:30a ET
Climate Change as Catalyst for Interdisciplinary Pedagogy and Research at Boston College
Prof. Yi Ming, Institute for Integrated Science and Society and Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Boston College
Thu, 02 Nov 2023, 10:30a ET
Mitigation of Charging of Multiple Spacecraft in Sunlight
Dr. Shu T. Lai, Boston College ISR
Thu, 16 Nov 2023, 10:30a ET
Enabling Space Science with Technology Developments in X-ray Imaging
Prof. Brian Walsh, Center for Space Physics, Boston University
Thu, 30 Nov 2023, 10:30a ET
Physics-based modeling of fluid-scale ionospheric plasma density irregularities at high latitudes
Prof. Matthew Zettergren, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Winter/Spring 2020
January 30, 2020
Julia Tilles, University of New Hampshire Space Science Center
Thunderstorm Radio Interferometry on Microsecond Timescales
March 5, 2020
Shunrong Zhang, MIT Haystack Observatory
New Understanding of Storm-Time Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances
March 26, 2020 - POSTPONED
Olusegun Jonah, MIT Haystack Observatory
Analysis of Geomagnetic Storms and Solar-Eclipse-Induced Ionospheric Perturbations and Investigation of Associated Mechanisms
April 16, 2020 - POSTPONED
Mari Paz Miralles, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
April 23, 2020 - POSTPONED
Luke Moore, Boston University Center for Space Physics
Fall 2019
September 26, 2019
Gregory Sloan, Space Telescope Science Institute
Organic Dust in the Interstellar Medium
October 10, 2019 (slides available here)
Vladym Paznukhov, Boston College Institute for Scientific Research
TID Climatologies in Antarctica and Europe Derived from HF and GNSS Observations
October 17, 2019
Majd Mayyasi, Boston University Center for Space Physics
Unraveling Present-day Mysteries of Mars using its Ionosphere
October 24, 2019
Sofia-Paraskevi Moschou, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Stellar CMEs: What can We Learn from Historic Observations?
November 14, 2019 - 1 pm (NOTE SPECIAL TIME)
Jeremy Shakun, Boston College Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences
Arctic Permafrost Stability over the Past 1.5 Million Years Inferred from Cave Deposits
November 21, 2019
Shu Lai, Boston College Institute for Scientific Research
Principles and Applications of Retarding Potential Analyzers
December 5, 2019
Charlie Carrano, Pat Doherty, Rezy Pradipta, John Retterer, and Dave Webb, BC/ISR
AGU Previews
Winter/Spring 2019 Schedule
January 3, 2019
Fr. Daniel McNamara, Manila Observatory
Academic Developments at the Ateneo de Davao University and ISR
February 7, 2019
Charles Carrano, Boston College ISR (slides available here)
New Paradigms for Characterizing Ionospheric Scintillation and the Irregularities that Produce It
February 28, 2019
Raphaelle Haywood, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
Breaking the Stellar Activity Barrier to Characterizing Small Planets
March 7, 2019
Anthony Case, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
The Solar Probe Cup on the Parker Solar Probe
March 21, 2019
Keith Groves, Boston College ISR
Can a Pound of Samarium Vapor Suppress Ionospheric Irregularities?
March 28, 2019
James Stickney, USU SDL
Atom Interferometry based on Atom Chips and Applications in Inertial Navigation
April 4, 2019
Earle Williams, MIT Civil & Environmental Engineering
Progress in Understanding the Two Global Electrical Circuits
May 9, 2019
Susanna Finn, UMass Lowell, LoCSST
Observations of the Equatorial Arcs from LITES on the ISS
May 14, 2019 (NOTE SPECIAL DAY)
Evgeny Mishin, AFRL/RVBXC
Plasma Physics of the Subauroral Geospace (abstract)
May 16, 2019 - 11 AM
Anthea Coster, MIT Haystack Observatory
New Space Weather Measurements with MACAWS: Monitors for Alaskan and Canadian Auroral Weather in Space (abstract)
Fall 2018
September 20, 2018
Ofer Cohen, UMass Lowell, LoCSST
Extreme Space Weather on Exoplanets - Can Red-dwarf Terrestrial Exoplanets be Habitable?
September 27, 2018
Chia-Lin Huang, Univ. New Hampshire, EOS
Quantifying Radiation Belt Electron Precipitation And Its Effect on Atmospheric Chemistry
October 4, 2018
Amanda Bosh, MIT, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences
Centaurs and TNOs: the Search for Rings and Atmospheres
October 18, 2018
Larisa Goncharenko, MIT, Haystack Observatory
Longitudinal Differences in Ionospheric Response to Sudden Stratospheric Warmings
November 1, 2018
Andrew Mazzella
A Comparison of Jason-2 Plasmasphere Electron Content Measurements to Ground-based Measurements
November 8, 2018
Katharine Reeves, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
Energy Flows in Solar Eruptions
November 15, 2018
Shu Lai, Boston College, ISR
Facets of Spacecraft Charging; Dependence on Electron Temperature and Density
November 29, 2018
Carl Schmidt, Boston University, CSP
Io's Escaping Atmosphere and Plasma Torus
December 6, 2018
Paznukhov, Pradipta, Yizengaw, Doherty, Carrano, Webb, Boston College ISR
AGU Previews (presentations available by clicking on author names above)
2017-2018
September 5, 2017
Matthew Richter, UC Davis, Dept. of Physics
High-Resolution, Mid-IR Spectroscopy from the Ground and the Stratosphere
September 19, 2017 (pdf of slides available)
Dev Joshi, Boston College, ISR & Dept. of Physics
Spatial variations of low latitude irregularities in height and longitude as a function of
solar flux: Results from the C/NOFS satellite mission
October 3, 2017
Timothy Cook, UMass Lowell, LoCSST and the Dept. of Physics & Applied Physics
LITES: Ultraviolet Aeronomy from the Space Station
October 10, 2017
Toshi Nishimura, Boston University, Center for Space Physics & the Dept. of Elec. and Comp. Engineering
Auroral Imaging for Probing High-Latitude Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling Processes
October 17, 2017
Olusegun Jonah, MIT, Haystack Observatory
Analyses of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) Over South and North America
October 26, 2017 (Th)
Brian Walsh, Boston University, Dept. of Engineering & CSP
Small Satellites for Science
November 2, 2017 (Th)
Cecilia Garraffo, Harvard University, Center for Astrophysics
From Stars to Planets: Stellar Activity and Exoplanet Environments
November 9, 2017 (Th) (pdf of slides available)
David Webb, Boston College, ISR
CME Rates over 4 Solar Cycles
November 30, 2017 (pdf of slides available)
Shu Lai, Boston College, ISR
Deep Dielectric Charging and Physical Interpretation of Delays in Spacecraft Anomalies
December 7, 2017 (Th)
ISR Members
AGU Previews
2018
February 1, 2018 (1 pm)
Endawoke Yizengaw, Boston Colllege, ISR
Longitudinal Variability of Ionospheric Irregularities and Forcing from the Lower Thermosphere
February 6, 2018 (T)
Robin Wordsworth, Harvard University, Eng. & Appl. Sciences
Resolving the Status of Oxygen as a Biosignature to Aid the Search for Life on Extrasolar Planets
February 15, 2018
Rezy Pradipta, Boston Colllege, ISR (pdf of slides, movie for slide 10, and movie for slide 14)
Using the 'GRAIT Detrender' to Study Bubbles/Irregularities over South America and the Caribbean (and the Prospect for Southeast Asia-Pacific)
March 1, 2018
Shradha Mohanty, Boston Colllege, Fulbright Scholar & ISR (pdf of slides available here)
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for Ionospheric Scintillation Studies
March 15, 2018
Kerri Cahoy, MIT, Dept. of Aeronautics & Astronautics
Laser Communication with CubeSats
March 29, 2018
Michael Hecht, Haystack Observatory
MOXIE: The Real-Life Oxygenator goes to Mars
April 19, 2018
Alexander Koloskov, Nat. Acad. Sciences of Ukraine, Inst. of Radio Astronomy
Space Weather Monitoring Using the Radio Spectrum from ELF to L-Band
May 10, 2018 (NEW DATE)
Sovit Khadka, Boston Colllege, ISR & Dept. of Physics
Abnormalities in the Dayside Low-Latitude Ionosphere
May 17, 2018, 10 am (NOTE SPECIAL TIME)
Olivier Obrou, Universite de Cocody, Côte d'Ivoire
Space Science Activites in Côte d'Ivoire
May 17, 2018
Wen Li, Boston University, Dept. of Astronomy & CSP
Understanding the Origin of Diffuse Aurora and Electron Butterfly Distributions at Jupiter: Initial Results from the Juno Mission