Four Physics and Astronomy graduate students won the "Best Space Themed Development Project" at the HackUIowa event Oct. 15-16 at the Iowa Memorial Union. Graduate students Cole Armstrong, Philip Griffin, Aidan Moore and Jacob Payne teamed up for the AstroMech 9 project, which connects people with space by showing where stars and constellations are in the night sky.

Three Physics and Astronomy faculty were honored at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Faculty Awards Ceremony, held Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, in the Old Capitol Senate Chambers.

Five Physics and Astronomy students have been invited to join the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the oldest and most prestigious undergraduate honors organization in the United States.

Greg Howes, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been honored by the American Physical Society with an award for his contributions to plasma physics. Howes received the 2022 Lev D. Landau and Lyman Spitzer Jr. award “for the theoretical development of the field-particle correlation technique and its application to spacecraft measurements directly showing that electron Landau damping plays a role in the dissipation of space plasma turbulence,” according to the society.

Professor Allison Jaynes received a $114,204 award to study how different acceleration mechanisms contribute to create high-energy "killer electrons" in Earth's Van Allen radiation belts.

Congratulations to Dr. David Montealegre for successfully defending his PhD thesis September 15th! 

Graduate Student Kristie Nault has been selected as a 2022 M. Hildred Blewett Fellow by the American Physical Society (APS). The M. Hildred Blewett Fellowship is intended to "enable women to return to physics research careers after having had to interrupt those careers." Nault's fellowship is a one-year award of $45,000 facilitating her continued study of AG Draconis.

The University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy will host the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) Jan. 20-22, 2023. The UI conference is part of a series sponsored by the American Physical Society (APS), the professional organization for physicists in the United States. The goal of APS CUWiP is to help undergraduate women continue in physics by providing them with the opportunity to experience a professional conference, information about graduate school and professions in physics, and access to other women in physics of all ages with whom they can share experiences, advice, and ideas.

Assistant Professor David Miles spoke on a panel at the University of Iowa UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Career Boot Camp on Aug. 11 and 12,  a professional development event in August featuring a series of panels and workshops designed to prepare graduate and postdoc students as they consider entering the workforce. 

NASA’s two Voyager spacecraft originally intended to just pass the planets Jupiter and Saturn are being recognized after 45 years of space exploration. The Plasma Wave Science instrument, created by UI scientists, remains an integral part of the spacecraft.