Wen Li is a scientist who studies space at Boston University. Her research focuses on waves in space made of charged particles, how Earth's radiation belts function, how the solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetic field, how charged particles fall into Earth's atmosphere, and Jupiter's magnetic field and auroras. She is a member of the American Geophysical Union who has been recognized for her work.

Biography

Wen Li earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Geophysics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2005. She completed a Master of Science degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2007 and 2010, respectively. After finishing her Ph.D., she worked as an associate researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles until 2016, when she joined Boston University.

Li's research involves studying waves in Earth's magnetosphere, creating models of Earth's radiation belts, and analyzing Jupiter's radiation belts. In 2019, she received funding to study plasma waves known as "whistler mode waves," which are high-energy electrons found in Earth's radiation belts.

Research

Li's research focuses on "killer electrons," which release a lot of radiation that can harm satellites in Earth's radiation belts. She uses data from multiple satellites to study this process, which is important for national security and businesses.

Her research using data from satellites that orbit close to Earth has shown that electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves during geomagnetic storms and recovery periods cause relativistic electrons to be lost from Earth's radiation belts. To understand how these plasma waves are spread across Earth, Li used low-satellite data to measure their properties and create a more detailed map of plasma waves around the Earth than before. These findings have been used in many other research projects and studies.