Raquel Salmeron

Raquel Salmeron

Adjunct Research Fellow

Location: Ipswich and Springfield Campuses
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From an early age I have been fascinated by the world around us, science, and astronomy. In an outreach article I shared how this love for science started, hoping to inspire others to nurture the interest of young people in their care.  Ultimately, this is also where my passion for education comes from: I can’t wait to share with others these fascinating facts, and support them in their quest to follow their dreams, and experience the same excitement.  This philosophy permeates everything I do in education, which I consider an integral part of my career

I completed a Doctorate in Astrophysics, from the University of Sydney, focussed on the numerical modelling and simulation of magnetically-driven turbulence in protostellar winds, a critical process thought to enable accretion to proceed. I enjoy conducting collaborative research, and have initiate and nurtured new lines of cross-disciplinary work with colleagues in related disciplines, including planetary science. I also have a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, and I have worked as an Analytics Manager in the Aviation Industry.

I am currently working on Space Weather, using the Space Weather Modelling Framework (developed at the University of Michigan) to study different space weather phenomena in the Solar system or other planetary systems, and their impact on the upper atmosphere (thermosphere and ionosphere) of planets.

Space weather is an important branch of space physics, is mainly concerned with studying the activity and environmental conditions of planetary systems, particularly our own. Space weather models typically characterise a Sun – planet system, where the planet is usually the Earth, via a number of interconnected physical processes. These processes take place in different domains, from the activity of the Sun itself, e.g. its magnetosphere and the solar wind, to the atmospheric properties of the planet. On Earth, space weather events are important because they may affect the atmosphere, and with it a number of technologies including radio communications and navigation systems, power grid operations and satellites. More generally, space weather modelling may also be used to study the impact of Solar activity on other bodies in our Solar system, or even to investigate other Sun-like planetary systems.

  • Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Protoplanetary Disks
  • Early Solar System
  • Protostellar Winds
  • Space Weather
  • Star Formation

Dr Salmeron’s publications can be viewed here