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Embry-Riddle Space Physicist Wins Prestigious Early Career Award from National Science Foundation

James Wanliss Daytona Beach, Fla., Dec. 15, 2004 -- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University space physicist James Wanliss has received the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for new faculty members, the Faculty Early Career Development award. The grant recognizes and supports the early career-development activities of teacher-scholars who are most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.

Wanliss, an assistant professor of physics at the university, will receive $410,606 over the next five years to develop local predictions of the effects on Earth of the magnetic storms that originate from explosions on the Sun. Magnetic storms attack the foundation of our planet’s high-tech infrastructure, as they interfere with and frequently damage things electrical. A storm in March 1989 caused billions of dollars in damage.

Wanliss’ team of researchers will use data gleaned from ground- and satellite-based instruments that measure fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field. To those data, they will apply innovative mathematical and statistical modeling techniques to create a system for predicting local behavior of magnetic storms and allowing for plans to limit damage.

Wanliss also will develop workshops and laboratory experiments about space science for K-12 teachers of science and mathematics around the country.

“We are very pleased that Dr. Wanliss has received this award from the NSF,” said John Johnson, provost and chief academic officer at Embry-Riddle. “It reflects highly on his achievements as a scholar and brings recognition to the university.”

Before joining the Embry-Riddle faculty in 2002, Wanliss did postdoctoral work at the Center for Data Analysis and Modeling at the University of Alberta and was a Canadian Space Agency research scientist working on the space weather program. Wanliss obtained his Ph.D. in space physics at the University of Alberta in 2000, his M.Sc. in exploration geophysics at Witwatersrand University in 1995, and his B.Sc. (with honors) in physics and applied mathematics at University of Cape Town in 1992. He also has conducted space physics research at the Japanese Space Agency and at the University of Washington, Seattle.

His previous awards include grants from the National Science Foundation’s Collaborations in Mathematical Geosciences Program and the Florida Space Grant Consortium.

Embry-Riddle, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering and meets the needs of students and industry through its educational, training, research, and consulting activities. Embry-Riddle educates more than 30,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Extended Campus at more than 130 teaching centers in the United States and Europe, and worldwide through distance learning.