Professor Patricia H. Reiff is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the Rice Space Institute at Rice University. Her research focuses on space plasma physics, mostly in the area of magnetospheric physics. Her research includes study of the aurora borealis, solar wind-magnetosphere coupling (including solar wind control of magnetospheric and ionospheric convection), and magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. She is a Co-I on the "IMAGE" magnetospheric imaging mission (launched March, 2000), Jim Burch, SWRI, P.I. She was the first person to propose radio sounding of the magnetosphere, which that spacecraft includes as a key instrument. She is a Co-Investigator on the "Peace" plasma instrument (begun by the late Alan Johnstone of Mullard Space Science Lab) on the ESA "Cluster 2" 4-spacecraft suite which was launched in July and August 2000. She is a Co-Investigator for science and EPO on the "Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission". She is instrumental in bringing real-time WIND data and "Space Weather" information to the public.
She is PI for a major project which has developed an off-ramp for the information highway by "Creating the Public Connection" , bringing real-time earth and space science data to museums and schools (originally sponsored by NASA's Digital Library Technology Program), and now sponsored by the IMAGE program and the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Over a million people have interacted with her exhibits and planetarium shows at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and other museums, and another million with her web sites. She has also been quite involved in other public education activities, including being director for four years for teacher education projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Eisenhower Foundation, in collaboration with Dr. Carolyn Sumners of the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS). Their latest collaboration is the creation and marketing of "Discovery Domes", portable digital theaters to teach earth and space science. She has guided many scientific tours, including total solar eclipse trips to Peru, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Black Sea, Madagascar, and Libya and upcoming trips to Mongolia in 2008 and China in 2009.
She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union , where she serves on the SPA Public Education Committee and the Committe on Public Affairs. She is the Rice University representative and former Chair of the Council of Institutions of the USRA - the Universities Space Research Association. She has served on advisory committees for NASA, NCAR, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NAS/NRC and AAU.
Her better (or at least less disorganized) half is Thomas W. Hill.
Our three children, Andrea, Adam, and Amelia (Amy) Hill, are all presently Rice undergrads. Amy, the artist, has her own "rowdyferret" web site.
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Official Physics and Astronomy page, with publications, etc.
Rice Space Institute home page
"Is Science the Salvation of Society?" (address to National Honor Society meeting, Houston, November 9, 1997)
"Three Heavens - Our Home" Essay (a chapter in the book "Professors Who Believe" published by IVP - ISBN 0-8308-1599-6)
Christmas Card 1996 (family photos, etc. - warning- it's big!)
Voice: (713)348-4634 . . . . Fax: (713)348-5143
reiff@rice.eduLast Update: May, 2007