Dr. Kristine Sigsbee, an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was awarded a $509,549.00 grant for her proposal “Ion Properties Associated with Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron (EMIC) Waves” that was submitted to the 2019 Heliophysics Guest Investigator (H-GI) "Open" Program. The Guest Investigator Program maximizes the scientific return from satellite missions in NASA’s Heliophysics System Observatory (HSO) by supporting research beyond the scope of the work performed by the mission science teams.  Dr. Jörg-Micha Jahn, a Principal Scientist in the Space Science Department at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX is a Co-Investigator on this project.  The project will use data from the Van Allen Probes, which were launched by NASA in 2012 to study how Earth’s radiation belts respond to solar activity and geomagnetic storms. The radiation belts are donut-shaped rings of electrons and ions surrounding Earth that were discovered in 1958 by University of Iowa Professor James Van Allen using Explorer 1 data.  Scientists think electromagnetic waves regulate the strength of the radiation belts. Some types of waves, such as radio frequency chorus waves, accelerate radiation belt electrons to velocities near light speed. These “killer electrons” can damage satellite electronics and pose a health risk to astronauts. Chorus waves feature chirp-like rising and falling tones that sound like bird songs when played as audio. Dr. Sigsbee’s research focuses on EMIC waves with frequencies of 1-4 cycles per second that can remove dangerous electrons from the radiation belts.  EMIC waves are generated by hydrogen, helium, and oxygen ions trapped in Earth’s magnetic field and can also have chirp-like rising tones similar to chorus, but they are far below the frequency range of human hearing. Examples of these space “sounds” can be found here: https://space.physics.uiowa.edu/rbsp/audio/mag/.