San Antonio — July 25, 2006 — The American Geophysical Union will present its Macelwane Medal to Dr. Jerry Goldstein, a principal scientist in the Space Science and Engineering Division, at the December AGU meeting in San Francisco. Goldstein is a 2006 recipient of the medal, named in honor of James B. Macelwane, the thirteenth president of the AGU and a pioneering geophysicist.

The medal recognizes significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by a young scientist and carries with it appointment as a Fellow of the AGU. Goldstein was recognized for his research on the structure and dynamics of the Earth’s plasmasphere, the region of the inner magnetosphere that contains relatively cool and dense plasma. His scientific approach, which includes satellite observations, numerical simulations and analytical theory, has led to important insights of this invisible region surrounding Earth.

“As a result of Jerry’s research, we now have vastly better understanding of the important role of both the interplanetary magnetic field and the Earth’s ionosphere in controlling the structure and dynamics of the plasmasphere, thereby making rapid progress in a field that had been progressing only very slowly over the past 30 years,” says Dr. Jim Burch, vice president of the SwRI Space Science and Engineering Division and an AGU Fellow. “The definitive studies that Jerry has already performed, and the many more that are now in work, clearly establish him as the world’s expert on the Earth’s plasmasphere and the electric fields of the inner magnetosphere that control it.”

Goldstein holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Brooklyn College and a doctorate in physics from Dartmouth College; he joined SwRI in 2003. Goldstein is increasingly in demand as a speaker and is active in public outreach and education, serving as an adjoint assistant professor at The University of Texas at San Antonio and presenting seminars for inner city teachers.

Editors: A photo to accompany this story is available at http://www.swri.org/press/2006/goldstein.htm.