Research Activities

My research interests lie in the fields of experimental and computational Plasma Physics. This work has applications in basic plasma physics, plasma processing and fusion diagnostics. My primary research is conducted in the Auburn Plasma Sciences Laboratory.

I'm presently involved in the following research topics:

  1. Transport of particulate matter in plasmas (dusty or complex plasmas).
  2. Laboratory simulations of instabilities in planetary rings.
  3. Plasma fluctuation growth and suppression through driven plasma rotation.
This research is supported by grants from:

National Science Foundation (NSF)
Math and Physical Sciences, Physics Directorate
#PHY-0936470-"Proposal for an ad hoc Workshop on Magnetized Dusty Plasmas"

Awarded: 6/09 - 5/10

National Science Foundation (NSF)
Math and Physical Sciences, Physics Directorate
#PHY-0810419-"Effect of ion flows on heating and instabilities in weakly coupled dusty plasmas"

Awarded: 8/08 - 7/11

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES)
DE-FG02-00ER54577 - "Multiscale investigation of sheared flows in magnetized plasmas"

Awarded: 11/07 - 10/10

National Science Foundation (NSF)
Math and Physical Sciences, Physics Directorate
#PHY-0354938-"Experimental Studies of Particle Cloud - Plasma Boundaries and Velocity Space Distribution Functions in Glow Discharge Dusty Plasmas"

Awarded: 7/04 - 6/08

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES)
DE-FG02-00ER54577 - "Impact of axial and radial electric field shear on plasma instabilities in a linear plasma column

Awarded: 6/98 - 10/01
Renewed: 11/01 - 10/04
Renewed: 11/04 - 10/07

National Science Foundation (NSF)
Math and Physical Sciences, Physics Directorate
#PHY-0244923-"Control and Application of Particle Transport in Dusty Plasmas"

Awarded: 7/03 - 6/05

National Science Foundation (NSF)
Major Research Instrumentation (MRI)
#PHY-0216421-"MRI: Acquisition of a Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry Diagnostic for Dusty Plasma Studies"

Awarded: 8/02 - 7/04

National Science Foundation (NSF)
Math and Physical Sciences, Physics Directorate (CAREER Award)
#PHY-9733554 - "Studies of the Physical and Thermodynamic Properties of Dusty Plasmas"

Awarded: 6/00 - 7/05

Other active funding sources:
  1. 10th Workshop on the Physics of Dusty Plasmas - Department of Energy (2003)
    11th Workshop on the Physics of Dusty Plasmas - Department of Energy (2006)
  2. For 3rd International Conference on the Physics of Dusty Plasmas
    • Office of Naval Research / Naval Research Laboratory
    • National Science Foundation
    • Department of Energy
  3. NSSTC through Auburn Space Research Institute

Previous funding sources:

  1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
  2. College of Science and Mathematics (COSAM)- Dean's Research Initiative (DRI) Award
  3. National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC)
The Plasma Sciences Laboratory was first established in the Physics Department of Fisk University with start-up funds provided through the Physics Department and support from the CPMD.
Last Update: July 29, 2009