Brian Harding

Brian Harding’s research interests include the dynamics of Earth’s upper atmosphere, space weather, and the mechanisms responsible for non-classical auroral phenomena such as STEVE and enhanced aurora. His work combines optical instrumentation, statistical data analysis, and first-principles modeling. His major projects have included MANGO, a ground-based optical network that has monitored gravity waves and winds across the United States since 2016, and NASA’s ICON mission, which operated from 2019 to 2022. He is the project scientist for NASA’s upcoming DAPHNE mission, currently planned to launch no earlier than 2029, which will investigate how Earth’s lower atmosphere influences the upper atmosphere.

Education
Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Remote Sensing and Space Sciences), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2017
B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, 2011

Positions
Associate Research Physicist, Space Sciences Laboratory, UC Berkeley, 2025 – Present
Assistant Research Physicist, Space Sciences Laboratory, UC Berkeley, 2019 – 2025
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2017 – 18