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Jaan Lepson

Associate Research Physicist
Work Phone: 510-643-0794
Photo of Jaan Lepson

Biography

I received my B.A. from Princeton University in 1985 and my Ph.D. from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa in 1996. I began working at Space Sciences Laboratory in 1998, and am currently an Associate Research Physicist. My research interests are primarily focused on laboratory astrophysics in support of x-ray and extreme ultraviolet space observatories, using data from electron beam ion traps and tokamaks. I have been working to develop a catalog of astrophysically relevant ions in the EUV regime for use to diagnose hot, diffuse plasmas (e.g. composition, temperature, and magnetic field) such as those found in stellar coronae, supernova remnants, and galactic outflows. I have current or past collaborations with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s EBIT program, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, the National Institute for Fusion Science in Japan, Columbia University, and the University of Nevada at Reno.
My outside interests include amateur astronomy, hiking, birding, and growing far too many cacti and succulents. I’ve also done work surveying endangered birds for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Hawai’i and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.