CV/Résumé

Dr. Mario Mark Bisi, MPhys (Hons) (WALES), Ph.D. (WALES), FRAS, AmInstP

Nationality: Welsh (British)

Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences (CASS)
University of California at San Diego (UCSD)
Contact Information: here!
URL: http://www.spacephysicist.com/

CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS
My main research interests concern the origin and development of the large-scale structure of the solar wind and solar-wind transients, and their influence on the inner planets; particularly the Earth. This includes regions of interaction, stream interfaces, structure within solar wind streams, non-radial flows, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). I am also interested in how transients (such as CMEs) affect the global structure of the inner heliosphere and how this structure changes between remote-sensing observations close-in to the Sun, and that which is presently measured in situ at ~1AU and outward. My primary sources of information come from various interplanetary scintillation (IPS) radio systems. Observations of IPS are used as a flow tracer for the solar wind to study the development of solar wind structure in interplanetary space. The investigation of the variation of solar wind velocity, density, and magnetic-field, through the use of three-dimensional (3D) tomographic reconstructions of wide-scale IPS data is also accomplished. These observations are currently undertaken by various world-wide IPS-capable systems such as EISCAT, ESR, MERLIN, STELab, and Ooty; and also in Thomson-scattered white-light with SMEI. I assisted in the development of extremely-long baseline (ELB) IPS and the use of the 3D reconstructions to better-constrain the fitting of individual ELB IPS observations. I am experienced in manipulating spacecraft data from instruments aboard Yohkoh, SOHO, Ulysses, Wind, ACE, and STEREO spacecraft in order to support these remote-sensing observations and 3D reconstructions. I have experience in the use of ground-based data from the Mauna Loa MkIII/MkIV Coronagraphs, and the Wilcox Solar Observatory and Kitt Peak source-surface magnetic maps. I have also collaborated on the modelling and the unwinding of Faraday rotation measurements of the solar wind. I intend to extend the ELB and 3D-reconstruction combinations to study in greater detail solar-wind transients and the 3D structure of the large-scale solar wind. In addition, further adaptation of the 3D-reconstruction analyses to work with Ooty data, and for the future upcoming Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) IPS-capable systems, and continue to develop further the association between white-light and IPS observations and the 3D reconstructions including multi-point in-situ comparison.

EDUCATION (QUALIFICATIONS)
• Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (IMAPS), University of Wales (UWA), Aberystwyth, September 2002 – July 2006.
Formal Qualification earned (WALES):
Ph.D. in the field of Space/Solar/Heliospheric Physics – 17 July 2006.
• Department of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, September 1998 – June 2002.
Formal qualification earned (WALES):
4-Year MPhys degree: Physics with Astronomy – Upper Second Class with Honours, ‘2(1)’.
• Bishop Hedley R.C. High School (BHHS), Merthyr Tydfil, September 1991 – June 1998.
Formal qualifications earned (various examination boards):
A-Level (3): Physics – A, Mathematics – B, Chemistry – B.
AS-Level (1): Music – B (specialising in music composition).
GCSE (10): Double Science – A*A*, Geography – A*, Mathematics – A, Music – A, Art and Design – A,
English Language – B, English Literature – B, Business Studies – B, Religious Studies – B.

RECENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
• 10 1st-author and 16 co-author refereed publications with many more in preparation and several non-refereed.
• Guest Editor of Solar Physics Topical Issues “Remote Sensing of the Inner Heliosphere”, 2009
• Invited talks at 4th and 5th AOGS Meetings, and at the XXVIIth IAU General Assembly: Bisi et al. and Breen et al., 2007; Bisi et al., 2008; Bisi et al., 2009.
• Lead organiser of the “Remote Sensing of the Inner Heliosphere” Aberystwyth Workshop, May 2009.
• Co-convenor of the Heliosphere/Astrosphere Special Session at JENAM/MIST/UKSP, April 2009.
• Assistant campaign manager for the April/May 2005 IPS observing campaign at EISCAT and ESR.
• Winner of R. M. Davies Prize (£1000) poster competition at UWA, 2004-2005.
• Outstanding Student Paper Award, Space Physics and Aeronomy, December AGU-Fall-2004.
• Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (UK).
• Associate Member of the Institute of Physics (UK).
• Member of the European Geophysical Union.
• Member of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society.
• Member of the American Geophysical Union.
• Member of the American Astronomical Society Solar Physics Division.
• Member of the British Astronomical Association.
• Member of the Society for Popular Astronomy (UK).
• Member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE/SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
• Setting up and maintaining my own Space, Solar, and Heliospheric Science WebPages/Blog at http://www.spacephysicist.com/, and I am a guest science writer for http://www.astroengine.com/.
• Working with CASS-UCSD undergraduate students – sharing my passion for solar/space/heliospheric physics – and encouraging original research as well as career-development advice on becoming a postgraduate.
• Seminars – postgraduate at IMAPS and CASS Journal Club – involved developing/presenting new ideas to large groups – IMAPS STP group meetings/CASS solar group meetings.
• Assisted in teaching 6th form summer school, undergraduate labs and exercise classes in physics at IMAPS.
• Assistant Warden at UWA student halls – involved giving emotional support and helping with social development/assistance whenever required to all students in my building and group of seafront halls.
• Working as a note-taker for special needs students at UWA, including examination invigilation.
• Marking of undergraduate physics students work at IMAPS offering constructive criticism wherever possible.
• Teaching dancing – working with large groups of students/staff at a wide variety of experience/capabilities in a very busy environment – responsible for lesson planning and the progression of dancers and the Team(s).
• School teaching experiences – working with young people; both Primary and Secondary education ages.

RELEVANT ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
• Core member of the International IPS Consortium.
• Recently involved with a NASA SMEX spacecraft mission proposal (PERSEUS) and a NASA Mission of Opportunity proposal (IHI) for the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter instrumentation – both submitted to NASA.
• Public understanding of science – Science in Society programme Small Awards Scheme project involvement: ‘Promoting STFC science to the disengaged: Radio and online outreach’ – contract number: ST/F500448/1.
• Initiated and helping lead the Worldwide ‘IPS Common Data Format’ effort to enhance cross-collaborations.
• IHY/WHI Collaborations – worldwide IPS campaigns with Ulysses/SMEI/STEREO, and with SOHO|UVCS.
• Various science-related organisational activities between 2003 and 2005 while at Aberystwyth.
• Assisted in organising the joint Royal Astronomical Society and Cardiff University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy Student Conference as a member of the LOC on Saturday 24 March 2001.

RELEVANT COMPUTER SKILLS (& TIME OF USAGE)
• Microsoft Windows – all versions (Approximately 15 Years 1 Month in total).
• Microsoft Office/OpenOffice (Approximately 13 Years 2 Months in total).
• Norton Utilities and Firewall (8 Years 2 Months).
• Adobe PhotoShop and The Gimp (8 Years 1 Month in total).
• XFTP/Cute FTP (7 Years 9 Months in total).
• Sun Unix/Linux – various flavours (Approximately 7 Years 5 Months in total).
• LaTeX – both in Linux/Unix and Windows (6 Years 9 Months).
• Macromedia Dreamweaver/Fireworks/basic HTML/WordPress (Approximately 5 Years 11 Months in total).
• IDL and MatLab Programming experience (Approximately 7 Months in total at intermittent times).
• Boreland Turbo Pascal Version 7 Programming (Approximately 6 Months in total when at Cardiff).
• FORTRAN-77 / FORTRAN-90 Programming experience (3 Months in total when at UWA and a little since).
• MathCAD Programming experience (Approximately 2 Months in total when at Cardiff).

OTHER INTERESTS & ACTIVITIES
• Using computers and running/experimenting with home networking (including wireless networking).
• Registration Committee Head for UCSD’s ‘Dance By The Shores’ DanceSport competition, 2006-2007.
• United Kingdom Alliance (UKA) Bronze Medals (Highly Commended) in both Standard Ballroom (SB) and Latin American (LA), Silver Medals (Highly Commended) in SB and (Honours) in LA, Gold Medals (Honours) in both SB and LA, Gold Bar 1 Medals (Honours) in SB and (Distinction) in LA; and third place at the Viejas Casino Ballroom Competition October-December 2007.
• Founder, club president, team captain, treasurer, secretary and webmaster of Aberdance DanceSport (Ballroom and Latin American Dancing), 2003-2004 and 2004-2005; honorary president/captain, 2005-2006; Club Colours for 2+ years service on the committee in 2004-2005 and again in 2005-2006.
• Driving - Full clean UK and CA USA Drivers Licences.
• Music and hi-fi, including A/V, plus cinema/films, and watching local club/international rugby.
• Keeping fit through various activities such as dancing (including small and large competitions), cycling, walking, squash, badminton; and occasionally circuit training, skiing and ice-skating.
• Occasionally playing the Piano, Keyboard, and Violin.

RELEVANT RECENT EMPLOYMENT
• 01/09/06 – Present International Postdoctoral Scholar, Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences (CASS), University of California at San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, California, USA.
• 26/09/05 – 10/08/06 Assistant Warden, Assistant Librarian, Special Needs Note-taker, and Examination Invigilator, various departments/occasions, University of Wales (UWA), Aberystwyth, Wales, GB.