Christina Cohen

Christina M.S. Cohen is an astrophysicist and the Principal Investigator of several instruments on NASA Heliophysics missions. Cohen is a member of the professional staff at the California Institute of Technology in the Division of Physics, Math, and Astronomy as well as a researcher in the Space Radiation Laboratory.

Education Cohen received her B.S. in physics (1989) from the University of New Hampshire, graduating summa cum laude. She then completed her M.S. (1992) and Ph.D (1995) in physics at the University of Maryland ; her thesis was titled "Measurements of solar wind sulfur abundance and charge states".

Research and career Cohen's research focus is on the physics of space weather phenomena and solar energetic particle events, primarily using spacecraft data gathered from across the heliosphere to analyze their propagation and acceleration mechanisms.

She is involved in several NASA missions, high energy particle detector instrument development and mission concept development for future heliophysics missions. As of 2023, Cohen is the PI of the CRIS, SIS, instruments on the Advanced Composition Explorer, Deputy PI of the Parker Solar Probe/IS☉IS instrument suite,

In 2022, Cohen began serving as Co-chair for the Panel on Space Weather Science and Applications as part of NASA's preparations for the 2024 Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey. From 2017 though 2020, she served as President and President-elect of the American Geophysical Union's Space Physics and Aeronomy section.

Selected publications

Honors and awards In 2023, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.