Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Graham Stewart Kerr

(RESEARCH ASSOCIATE)

Graham Stewart Kerr's Contact Card & Information.
Email: graham.s.kerr@nasa.gov
Phone: 301.286.5202
Org Code: 671
Address:
NASA/GSFC
Mail Code 671
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer: CATHOLIC UNIV OF AMERICA

Brief Bio


Graham graduated from the University of Glasgow with an MSci (Hons.) degree. He then obtained his PhD, also from the University of Glasgow, in 2017, supervised by Prof Lyndsay Fletcher. Upon completion of his PhD, Graham became a NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center in 2017, working with Dr. Joel Allred on the modelling of solar flares. His research focuses on understanding the energy, radiation, and mass transport during of solar flares, with a particular focus on the solar chromosphere. This is achieved via state-of-the-art radiation hydrodynamical modelling of the solar atmosphere and the analysis of data from NASA observatories. After the conclusion of the NPP Fellowship, Graham was appointed a Research Scientist at the Catholic University of America, and in this role he continues to be based at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center both as part of the PHaSER project and via various grants.

Positions/Employment


Assistant Research Scientist

The Catholic University of America - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md

April 2020 - Present


NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow

Universities Space Research Association (USRA) - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md

April 2017 - April 2020


Graduate Student

University of Glasgow - Glasgow, United Kingdom

October 2012 - December 2016

Education


MSci (Hons.) 1st Class Astronomy & Physics (2012), Univeristy of Glasgow, Scotland UK

PhD Astrophysics (2017), Univeristy of Glasgow, Scotland UK

  • Supervised by Prof. Lyndsay Fletcher
  • Thesis: Observations and Modelling of the Chromosphere During Solar Flares.
  • Thesis submitted Sept 2016, Viva passed Dec 2016, Final award Feb 2017.

 

Professional Societies


American Astronomical Society

2020 - Present


Solar Physics Division

2017 - Present


American Geophysical Union

2017 - Present

Professional Service


  • AAS/SPD Public Policy Committee member
  • Co-Leader of an International Space Science Institute (ISSI) International Team: Interrogating Field-Aligned Solar Flare Models: Comparing, Contrasting and Improving​ (2019-2022): http://www.issibern.ch/teams/fieldsolflare/
  • 670 NGAPS+ Rep
  • NGAPS+ DEIA subcommittee member
  • GSFC LGBTQ+ ERG

Awards


  • Peer Award, GSFC Heliophysics Science Division (2022)
  • Hunter-Cumming Outreach prize, Univeristy of Glasgow (2016)
  • Thomson Experimental prize, Univeristy of Glasgow (2015)
  • Hunter-Cumming PhD Research prize, Univeristy of Glasgow (2014)


Publications


Refereed

2024. "Spectral Imager of the Solar Atmosphere: The First Extreme-Ultraviolet Solar Integral Field Spectrograph Using Slicers." Aerospace 11 (3): 208 [10.3390/aerospace11030208] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Can Proton Beam Heating Flare Models Explain Sunquakes?." The Astrophysical Journal 960 (1): 80 [10.3847/1538-4357/ad0cf3] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "An optically thin view of the flaring chromosphere: non-thermal widths in a chromospheric condensation during an X-class solar flare." Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 527 (2): 2523-2548 [10.1093/mnras/stad3135] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "A Possible Mechanism for the “Late Phase” in Stellar White-light Flares." The Astrophysical Journal 959 (1): 54 [10.3847/1538-4357/ad077d] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Extreme Red-wing Enhancements of UV Lines during the 2022 March 30 X1.3 Solar Flare." The Astrophysical Journal 958 (1): 67 [10.3847/1538-4357/acf8c6] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Prospects of Detecting Nonthermal Protons in Solar Flares via Lyman Line Spectroscopy: Revisiting the Orrall–Zirker Effect." The Astrophysical Journal 945 (2): 118 [10.3847/1538-4357/acb92a] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Formation of the Lyman Continuum during Solar Flares." The Astrophysical Journal 944 (2): 186 [10.3847/1538-4357/acaf66] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Solar Flare Ribbon Fronts. I. Constraining Flare Energy Deposition with IRIS Spectroscopy." The Astrophysical Journal 944 (1): 104 [10.3847/1538-4357/acaf7c] [Journal Article/Letter]

2023. "Interrogating solar flare loop models with IRIS observations 2: Plasma properties, energy transport, and future directions." Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences 9 [10.3389/fspas.2022.1060862] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Interrogating solar flare loop models with IRIS observations 1: Overview of the models, and mass flows." Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences 9 [10.3389/fspas.2022.1060856] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Radiative losses in the chromosphere during a C-class flare." Astronomy & Astrophysics 665 A50 [10.1051/0004-6361/202243440] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Solar Flare Heating with Turbulent Suppression of Thermal Conduction." The Astrophysical Journal 931 (1): 60 [10.3847/1538-4357/ac69e8] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "The Atmospheric Response to High Nonthermal Electron-beam Fluxes in Solar Flares. II. Hydrogen-broadening Predictions for Solar Flare Observations with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope." The Astrophysical Journal 928 (2): 190 [10.3847/1538-4357/ac5174] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Probing the Physics of the Solar Atmosphere with the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE). II. Flares and Eruptions." The Astrophysical Journal 926 (1): 53 [10.3847/1538-4357/ac4223] [Journal Article/Letter]

2022. "Multi-passband Observations of a Solar Flare over the He i 10830 Å line." The Astrophysical Journal Letters 924 (1): L18 [10.3847/2041-8213/ac447c] [Journal Article/Letter]

2021. "He i 10830 Å Dimming during Solar Flares. I. The Crucial Role of Nonthermal Collisional Ionizations." The Astrophysical Journal 912 (2): 153 [10.3847/1538-4357/abf42d] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Modeling the Transport of Nonthermal Particles in Flares Using Fokker-Planck Kinetic Theory." The Astrophysical Journal 902 (1): 16 [10.3847/1538-4357/abb239] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Solar Flare Arcade Modeling: Bridging the Gap from 1D to 3D Simulations of Optically Thin Radiation." The Astrophysical Journal 900 (1): 18 [10.3847/1538-4357/abaa46] [Journal Article/Letter]

2020. "Response of SDO/HMI Observables to Heating of the Solar Atmosphere by Precipitating High-energy Electrons." The Astrophysical Journal 893 (1): 24 [10.3847/1538-4357/ab7b6a] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Modeling Mg ii during Solar Flares. II. Nonequilibrium Effects." The Astrophysical Journal 885 (2): 119 [10.3847/1538-4357/ab48ea] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Modeling Mg II During Solar Flares. I. Partial Frequency Redistribution, Opacity, and Coronal Irradiation." The Astrophysical Journal 883 (1): 57 [10.3847/1538-4357/ab3c24] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Spectral Evidence for Heating at Large Column Mass in Umbral Solar Flare Kernels. I. IRIS Near-UV Spectra of the X1 Solar Flare of 2014 October 25." The Astrophysical Journal 878 (2): 135 [10.3847/1538-4357/ab1f8b] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "SI iv Resonance Line Emission during Solar Flares: Non-LTE, Nonequilibrium, Radiation Transfer Simulations." The Astrophysical Journal 871 (1): 23 [10.3847/1538-4357/aaf46e] [Journal Article/Letter]

2019. "Statistical Study of Chromospheric Evaporation in Impulsive Phase of Solar Flares." The Astrophysical Journal 871 (1): 2 [10.3847/1538-4357/aaf6b0] [Journal Article/Letter]

2018. "Modeling of the Hydrogen Lyman Lines in Solar Flares." The Astrophysical Journal 862 (1): 59 [10.3847/1538-4357/aacc29] [Journal Article/Letter]

2017. "Formation of the thermal infrared continuum in solar flares." Astronomy & Astrophysics 605 A125 [10.1051/0004-6361/201730856] [Journal Article/Letter]

2016. "Simulations of the Mg II k and Ca II 8542 lines from an Alfven Wave-heated Flare Chromosphere." The Astrophysical Journal 827 (2): 101 [Journal Article/Letter]

2015. "IRIS observations of the Mg ii h and k lines during a solar flare." Astronomy & Astrophysics 582 A50 [10.1051/0004-6361/201526128] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "THE RADIATED ENERGY BUDGET OF CHROMOSPHERIC PLASMA IN A MAJOR SOLAR FLARE DEDUCED FROM MULTI-WAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS." ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL 793 [10.1088/0004-637X/793/2/70] [Journal Article/Letter]

2014. "PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WHITE-LIGHT SOURCES IN THE 2011 FEBRUARY 15 SOLAR FLARE." The Astrophysical Journal 783 (2): 98 [10.1088/0004-637x/783/2/98] [Journal Article/Letter]

2011. "HARD X-RAY AND ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONS OF THE 2005 JANUARY 15 TWO-RIBBON FLARE." The Astrophysical Journal 744 (1): 48 [10.1088/0004-637x/744/1/48] [Journal Article/Letter]