Louise Harra

Louise Harra is an Irish physicist, born in Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. She graduated from The Queen's University of Belfast with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Maths and Physics and a PhD in Physics. She was a professor of solar physics at University College, London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory until 2019, when she moved to Switzerland to become Director of PMOD/WRC and affiliated professor at ETH-Zürich Institute of Particle Physics and Astrophysics.

Education

She attended Banbridge Academy.

Research interests

Harra's research interests include:

• Trigger for solar flares and coronal mass ejections
• Formation of the solar wind
• Sun-Earth connection

Space missions

Harra has been involved in a number of space missions in her career. These include:

• The Japanese/US/UK space mission Yohkoh, Instrument Scientist based in Japan.
• The JAXA/NASA/UK/ESA mission Hinode, Prinicpal Investigator of the EUV Imaging Spectrometer.
• The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission, co-Principal Investigator for the EUV Imager.

Media

Harra has given radio and TV interviews. These include:

• 2014 Radio 4, 'In our time' interview with Melvyn Bragg
• 2014 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Science Show with Robyn Williams

Awards

• 2017: Robinson medal presented by Armagh Observatory.
• 2016: Daiwa-Adrian prize for UK-Japan research.
• 2015: RAS group achievement award for the Hinode EIS instrument.
• 2014: The Sir Arthur Clarke Award, Space Achievement (Academic Study/Research) for her leadership in the UK and internationally of the exploitation of data from the Japanese Hinode spacecraft and her leadership of the upcoming EUI telescope on Solar Orbiter..
• 2014: The Royal Astronomical Society's Chapman Medal, for single investigations of outstanding merit in solar-terrestrial physics, including geomagnetism and aeronomy.