Director, Center for KINETIC Plasma Physics
Oleg Jefimenko Distinguished Professor
Earl is experienced in both laboratory and space plasmas. He has investigated high frequency turbulence and ion-cyclotron instabilities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and whistler heat flux driven instabilities at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a member of the Ulysses spacecraft plasma team. Since 1995 he has been a faculty member in physics at West Virginia University and his ongoing research activities include: the development of novel techniques for imaging low energy neutrals from space and laboratory plasmas, space plasma instrument design, plasma source development for industrial and scientific campaigns, development of single photon, two-photon, and three-photon fluorescence diagnostic methods for measuring ion and neutral velocity distributions in fusion and low-temperature plasmas, magnetic reconnection, Thomson Scattering diagnostic development for electron velocity distribution function measurements, microwave scattering, and quantum-enhanced spectroscopy in plasmas.