Amanda Stricklan
Education
Research
I earned a B.S. in Astrophysics and M.S. in Physics from the University of Georgia under the advisement of Loris Magnani. My thesis research involved studying the structure of molecular clouds using radio astronomy and spectral analysis.
As at undergrad at UGA, I also minored in Paleoanthropology. In the summer of 2018 I worked on an excavation site in the Lake Turkana region of Kenya. My research project was to field test a new phytolithic (small micro-fossils) extraction process, and use phytolithic analysis to study the earliest controlled use of fire.
In 2019-2020 I worked as a research assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory. My research was to use particle data from the Air Force’s GPS constellation to create a geomagnetic cutoff model. This model predicts how far highly energetic particles from the Sun can penetrate into Earth’s magnetosphere. I was also responsible for contributing to the open source Python library Spacepy.
At NMSU, my research has shifted from the Earth-side of space weather to the Sun. I now look at spicules (solar jets) in the Sun’s chromosphere and their role in triggering/accelerating solar wind.
Publications
- R. Carver, S. K. Morley, A. Stricklan (2019), GPS Constellation Energetic Particle Measurements, IEEE Aerospace 2020 Conference Proceedings, LA-UR-19-31027
- Stricklan, A. (2019). Isolated Molecular Clumps at the CO-Boundary of a Diffuse Molecular Cloud [Master’s thesis, University of Georgia]. UGA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Database.