SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics



2026 Eugene Parker Lecture
Primary Convener:  Katharine Reeves, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, United States
Convener:  Michael Warren Liemohn, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Alvin Angeles, University of New Hampshire Main Campus, Physics and Astronomy Space Science Center, Durham, United States


2026 William B. Hanson Lecture
Primary Convener:  Katharine Reeves, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, United States
Convener:  Michael Warren Liemohn, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Alvin Angeles, University of New Hampshire Main Campus, Physics and Astronomy Space Science Center, Durham, United States


Across the Heliosphere: Using In-situ Observations and Modeling as Tools for Probing the Heliospheric Boundaries, Heliosheath, and VLISM
Primary Convener:  Marc Zachary Kornbleuth, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
Conveners:  Parisa Mostafavi, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, Laxman Adhikari, Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, Department of Space Science, The university of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, United States and Jonathan Gasser, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Jesse Miller, Boston University, Astronomy, Boston, MA, United States


Advances in Coronal Magnetometry: Integrating Observations, Inversion Strategies, and Simulation-Based Inference of Coronal Structure from DKIST, MLSO, and Next-Generation Coronagraphs
Primary Convener:  Thomas A Schad, National Solar Observatory, Makawao, HI, United States
Conveners:  Soumyaranjan Dash, National Solar Observatory, Makawao, HI, United States, Sarah E Gibson, National Center for Atmospheric Research, High Altitude Observatory, Boulder, CO, United States, Jenna Samra, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, United States and Judit Szente, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Soumyaranjan Dash, National Solar Observatory, Makawao, HI, United States


Advances in Forecasting Solar Magnetic Activity: Data, Physics, and ML/AI Driven Approaches
Primary Convener:  John T Stefan, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Physics, Edison, NJ, United States
Conveners:  Irina Kitiashvili, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States and Spiridon Kasapis, Princeton University, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton, United States
Student/Early Career Conveners:  John T Stefan, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, Edison, NJ, United States and Spiridon Kasapis, Princeton University, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton, United States


Advances in Solar Wind Modeling Across Physics-Based, Data-Driven, and Machine Learning Approaches
Primary Convener:  Dinesha Vasanta Hegde, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, United States
Conveners:  Talwinder Singh, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, United States and Vishal Upendran, SETI Institute Mountain View, Mountain View, United States


Advancing Chromospheric Diagnostics: From Spectropolarimetric Observations to Physics-Based Modeling
Primary Convener:  Debi Prasad Choudhary, California State University Northridge, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northridge, CA, United States and Mehmet Sarp Yalim
Conveners:  Mehmet Sarp Yalim, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, Huntsville, AL, United States, Vasyl Yurchyshyn, Big Bear Solar Observatory, Big Bear City, CA, United States and Mehmet Sarp Yalim


Breaking Down Barriers in Space Physics Education: Making Online Space Physics Resources Accessible for Teaching and Early Research
Primary Convener:  Nicholas A Gross, Boston University, Astronomy, Boston, MA, United States
Convener:  Cindy L Bruyere, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science, Boulder, CO, United States


Collisionless Shocks in Heliospheric and Astrophysical Plasmas and their Effects on Particle Acceleration and Planetary Magnetospheres
Primary Convener:  Savvas Raptis, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States
Conveners:  Drew L Turner, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, Christina Cohen, Caltech, Pasadena, United States and Heli Hietala, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
Student/Early Career Convener:  Domenico Trotta, European Space Agency, European Space Astronomy Center (ESA), Villanueva De La Canada, Spain


Connecting the Sun, Heliosphere, and Local Interstellar Medium, Including First-Year Results from NASA’s IMAP Mission
Primary Convener:  J. Grant Mitchell, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Conveners:  Nehpreet Kaur Walia, Princeton University, Princeton, United States and Fatemeh Rahmanifard, University of New Hampshire Main Campus, Space Science Center, Durham, NH, United States


Cross-Scale Coupling of Structures, Waves, Energy Conversion, and Particle Energization in Solar Wind Turbulence
Primary Convener:  Lingling Zhao, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, United States
Conveners:  Yan Yang1, Gary P Zank2 and Prof. William H Matthaeus1, (1)University of Delaware, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Newark, DE, United States(2)Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, Department of Space Science, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Xingyu Zhu, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, United States


Diagnose heliospheric and terrestrial plasma with radio observations
Primary Convener:  Dr. Peijin Zhang, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, Edison, NJ, United States
Conveners:  Lindsay Goodwin, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, United States, Bernard V Jackson, University of California San Diego, Astronomy and Astrophysics, La Jolla, CA, United States and Mario Mark Bisi, United Kingdom Research and Innovation - Science & Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, RAL Space, Didcot, United Kingdom


Dynamics of Shock Waves in the Heliosphere: Synergies of Multi-Spacecraft Observations and Simulations
Primary Convener:  Federico Fraschetti, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, United States
Conveners:  Lingling Zhao, Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, Huntsville, United States and Oleksiy Dudnik, Institute of Radio Astronomy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Student/Early Career Convener:  James McClung, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, United States


Energetic Particle Acceleration and Transport Across Scales and Environments in Heliophysics
Primary Convener:  Xiaocan Li, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States
Conveners:  Mitsuo Oka, UC Berkeley-Space Sciences Lab, Berkeley, United States, Bin Chen, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, Edison, NJ, United States and James Frederick Drake, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Dr. Jeongbhin Seo, PhD, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States


Exploring Turbulence, Magnetic Reconnection, and Non-Thermal Particle Distributions in Space Plasmas
Primary Convener:  Stanislav Boldyrev, University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Physics, Madison, WI, United States
Conveners:  Christopher H K Chen, Queen Mary University of London, Department of Physics and Astronomy, London, United Kingdom and Vadim Roytershteyn, Space Science Institute Boulder, Boulder, United States


Forecasting Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) Events: Gaps, Challenges, and the Need for Mitigation
Primary Convener:  Maher A Dayeh, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
Conveners:  Lulu Zhao, University of Michigan, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, United States, Kathryn Whitman, KBR/NASA JSC, Space Radiation Analysis Group, Houston, United States and Subhamoy Chatterjee, Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States


Forecasting Solar Transients Beyond Earth: From Solar Drivers To Operational Space Weather Across The Heliosphere
Primary Convener:  Cecilia Mac Cormack, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States
Conveners:  Norberto Romanelli, University of Maryland, Department of Astronomy, College Park, United States; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, Eleni Nikou, NRC Research Associate, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, United States and Mary Aronne, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Physics, Baltimore, MD, United States


From Initiation to Impact: Understanding CMEs as Drivers of Space Weather
Primary Convener:  Ranadeep Sarkar, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Conveners:  Anshu Kumari, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India, Dr. Ritesh Patel, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, Nishtha Sachdeva, University of Michigan, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, United States and Shaheda Begum Shaik, George Mason University Fairfax, US Navy Research Laboratory, Fairfax, United States


Fundamental Physics of the Solar Corona and Inner Heliosphere
Primary Convener:  Olga Panasenco, Advanced Heliophysics Inc., Pasadena, CA, United States
Conveners:  Chen Shi, Auburn University, Department of Physics, Auburn, United States, Marco C M Velli, University of California Los Angeles, Earth Planetary and Space Sciences, Los Angeles, United States and Chadi S Salem, SSL, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, United States


Fundamental Plasma Processes in the Solar Atmosphere: Insights from High Resolution Observations and Simulations
Primary Convener:  Gianna Cauzzi, National Solar Observatory, Tucson, AZ, United States
Conveners:  Vasyl Yurchyshyn, Big Bear Solar Observatory, Big Bear City, CA, United States and Patrick Antolin, Northumbria University, School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Student/Early Career Convener:  Cole Aiken Tamburri, University of Colorado at Boulder, NSO, LASP, Boulder, United States


Global Views on the Young Solar Wind and Explosive Structures with Polarized Imaging
Primary Convener:  Nicholeen M Viall, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Conveners:  Sarah E Gibson, National Center for Atmospheric Research, High Altitude Observatory, Boulder, CO, United States and Michael Kirk, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States


Heliophysics Science with Extended Missions
Primary Convener:  Simon P Plunkett, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, United States
Conveners:  Ursula K Rick, NASA Headquarters, Washington, United States, Therese Kucera, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States and Robert Michell, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States


High-Energy Solar Investigations Through Next-Generation Remote Sensing: Spectroscopy, Imaging, and Beyond
Primary Convener:  Amir Caspi, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
Conveners:  Christopher Samuel Moore, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, United States, Juliana Therese Vievering, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, P. S. Athiray, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, United States and Lindsay Glesener, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Juan Camilo Buitrago-Casas, UNAL, Bogotá D.C., Colombia


Leveraging Operational Space Weather Data for Discovery Science
Primary Convener:  Irfan Azeem, NOAA, Office of Space Weather Observations, Lanham, United States
Conveners:  Laurel Rachmeler, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Boulder, United States and Daniel B Seaton, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States


Mesoscale Magnetic Flux Tubes and Structures in the Solar Atmosphere: Origins and Effects
Primary Convener:  Prof. William H Matthaeus, University of Delaware, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Newark, DE, United States
Conveners:  Jean Carlos Perez, Florida Institute of Technology, Aerospace, Physics and Space Sciences, Melbourne, FL, United States, Qiang Hu, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Space Science, Huntsville, United States and Riddhi Bandyopadhyay, Princeton University, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton, NJ, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Rayta Pradata, University of Delaware, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Newark, DE, United States


Multi-satellite Heliospheric Measurements for Research and Operations: Lagrange 1
Primary Convener:  Dr. Dimitrios Vassiliadis, Ph.D., NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, Space Weather Observations (SWO) Office, Lanham, United States
Convener:  K Sankarasubramanian, Indian Space Research Organization, Bangalore, India


New Insights into Particle Access and Transport in the Inner Heliosphere
Primary Convener:  Robert Colby Allen, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
Conveners:  Dr. Erika Palmerio, Predictive Science Inc., San Diego, CA, United States and Leng Ying Khoo, Princeton, New Jersey, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Sophia Davis, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, United States; Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, United States


Parker Solar Probe at Solar Maximum: Connectivity and Evolution of the Innermost Heliosphere
Primary Convener:  Kristoff W Paulson, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, United States
Conveners:  Tatiana Niembro Hernandez, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, United States and Adam Szabo, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States


Particle Acceleration at the Sun and in the Heliosphere
Primary Convener:  Liu Yang, Peking University, Institute of Space Physics and Applied Technology, Beijing, China
Conveners:  Samuel Hart, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, United States, Manuel Enrique Cuesta, Princeton University, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton, NJ, United States and Athanasios Kouloumvakos, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Abdullah Shmies, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, United States


Prediction of Solar Transient Events using Machine Learning
Primary Convener:  Viacheslav M Sadykov, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, United States
Conveners:  Talwinder Singh, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, United States and Berkay Aydin, Georgia State University, Computer Science, Atlanta, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  Aatiya Ali, National Solar Observatory, Tucson, United States


Probing Transport/Acceleration and Magnetic Fields with MeV-TeV Particles and Electromagnetic Signature: From Solar Atmosphere to Interplanetary Space
Primary Convener:  Federico Fraschetti, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, United States
Conveners:  Shoko Miyake, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Okinawa, Japan, Alessandro Bruno, Catholic University of America, Department of Physics, Washington DC, United States and Elena Orlando, Stanford Univ, Stanford, United States


STEREO at 20: From Multi-viewpoint Measurements to Continuous Heliospheric Imaging
Primary Convener:  Therese Ann Kucera, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Conveners:  Madhulika Guhathakurta, NASA Headquarters, Washington, United States and Christina Kay, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, United States


Shock Structure and Plasma Waves in Collisionless and Weakly Collisional Plasmas
Primary Convener:  Federico Fraternale, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, Huntsville, AL, United States
Conveners:  Vadim Roytershteyn, Space Science Institute Boulder, Boulder, United States and Ameneh Mousavi, Space Science Institute Boulder, Boulder, United States


Solar Connectivity: Linking Interior Dynamics to Magnetic Variability and Heliospheric Evolution for Solar Cycles in the Past, Present, and Future
Primary Convener:  Lisa Upton, Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States and COFFIES NASA DRIVE Center
Conveners:  Mausumi Dikpati, NSF-NCAR, High Altitude Observatory, Boulder, United States, Ruizhu Chen, W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, United States, Sushant Mahajan, W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Physics, Stanford, United States and COFFIES NASA DRIVE Center


Solar Orbiter: Discoveries to Date and the Journey to High(er) Solar Latitudes
Primary Convener:  Fernando Carcaboso, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliophysics Science Division, Greenbelt, United States
Conveners:  David Lario, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliophysics Science Division, Greenbelt, United States, Dr. Graham Stewart Kerr, PhD, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States and Natalia Zambrana Prado, MSSL, Surrey, United Kingdom
Student/Early Career Convener:  Hannah Collier, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Windisch, Switzerland


Solar and Heliospheric Physics: General Contributions
Primary Convener:  Hazel M Bain, NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, United States
Conveners:  Scott England, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Blacksburg, United States and Weichao Tu, University of Michigan


Space Physics at Interfaces across the Inner Heliosphere: the Sonic, Alfvén, and Plasma-Beta Unity Surfaces, and the Terrestrial Magnetosheath
Primary Convener:  Dr. Rohit Chhiber, BSc (Honours), MSc, PhD, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliospheric Science Division, Greenbelt, United States; University of Delaware, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Newark, United States
Conveners:  Francesco Pecora, University of Delaware, Newark, United States, Sergio Servidio, Università della Calabria, Department of Physics, Rende, Italy and Prof. William H Matthaeus, University of Delaware, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Newark, DE, United States


Space Weather: What can Researchers Learn from Users/Forecasters, and Vice Versa...
Primary Convener:  Mario Mark Bisi, United Kingdom Research and Innovation - Science & Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, RAL Space, Didcot, United Kingdom
Conveners:  Larisza D Krista, University of Colorado at Boulder, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), Boulder, United States, Antti A Pulkkinen, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States and Krista Hammond, Met Office, Exeter, United Kingdom


Spectroscopy of the Active Solar Corona with Current and Future Instrumentation
Primary Convener:  Paola Testa, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, United States
Conveners:  Juan Martinez-Sykora, Bay Area Environmental Research Institute - LMSAL, Palo Alto, CA, United States, Katharine Reeves, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, United States and Vanessa Polito, Bay Area Environmental Research Institue, Moffett Field, United States


The NASA DRIVE Science Centers: Advancing Heliophysics through Large-Scale Collaboration
Primary Convener:  Lisa Upton, Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States and COFFIES, SHIELD, and CGS NASA DRIVE Centers
Conveners:  Amy M Keesee, University of New Hampshire, Physics and Space Science Center, Durham, United States, Sanlyn Buxner, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, United States and COFFIES, SHIELD, and CGS NASA DRIVE Centers


Understanding Connectivity across the Middle Corona
Primary Convener:  Daniel B Seaton, Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
Conveners:  Katharine Reeves, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, United States, Matthew John West, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, United States and Bin Chen, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, Edison, NJ, United States
Student/Early Career Convener:  William Ashfield, Montana State University, Bozeman, United States


Understanding Space Weather for Human and Robotic Exploration to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond
Primary Convener:  Gina A DiBraccio, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Conveners:  Christina O Lee, University of California Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, United States, Phillip C Chamberlin, University of Colorado Boulder, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, United States and Yaireska M Collado-Vega, NOAA/NESDIS, Office of Space Weather Observations, Lanham, United States


Waves that Heat the Sun: MHD and Kinetic Scale Drivers of Coronal Heating
Primary Convener:  Hava Turkakin, Utica University, Physics, Utica, United States
Conveners:  Neda Naseri, Adelphi University, Physics, Garden City, United States and Syed Ayaz, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Space Science and CSPAR, Huntsville, AL, United States