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Mitsuo Oka

Associate Research PhysicistUniversity of California, BerkeleySpace Sciences Laboratory
Photo of Mitsuo Oka

Biography

Mitsuo Oka has a strong interest in particle acceleration in space, solar, and astrophysical plasma environments (or the Plasma Universe). He has worked on particle acceleration associated with shocks and magnetic reconnection using both satellite observations (Geotail, THEMIS, MMS and RHESSI) and super-computer simulations (mainly particle-in-cell technique). Currently, he is a key member of NASA’s Magnetsopheric Multiscale (MMS) mission team that is responsible for identifying and capturing the magnetic reconnection diffusion regions in space. He is also a key member of the US-Japan joint solar X- ray and γ-ray mission PhoENiX, to be proposed to JAXA. Regarding education, he has mentored undergraduate students for short-term projects through programs such as URAP and REU (ASSURE) at UC Berkeley. He is now looking for motivated graduate students who can work together on the interesting topics of particle acceleration.