Wen Li

Wen Li is a space physicist at Boston University. Her research interests include space plasma waves, Earth's radiation belt physics, solar-wind magnetosphere coupling, energetic particle precipitation, and the Jovian magnetosphere and aurora. She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

Biography Wen Li received a B.Sc. in Geophysics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2005. She earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2007 and 2010, respectively. Following her Ph.D., she remained at the University of California, Los Angeles as an associate researcher until 2016, when she moved to Boston University.

Li's research focuses on waves in Earth's magnetosphere, modeling Earth's radiation belts, and examining radiation belts on Jupiter. In 2019, she received funding to examine plasma waves called 'whistler mode waves', which are high-energy electrons in Earth's radiation belts.

Research One of Li's research areas concerns "killer electrons," electrons that emit a high level of radiation that can damage satellites in Earth's radiation belts. Li uses multi-satellite observations to study this process, which has implications for national security and commercial interests.

Honors and awards 2015: Air Force Young Investigator Award 2014, 2015, 2016: Young Scientists Awards in the International Union of Radio Science 2017: American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fellow 2017: AGU James B. Macelwane Medal 2019: NSF CAREER Award

Selected publications