Skip navigation

Dr Natasha Jeffrey

Associate Professor

Department: Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering

Natasha Jeffrey

My research studies solar flares, huge releases of energy in the Sun’s atmosphere. Solar flares provide us with an astrophysical laboratory for understanding processes such as magnetic reconnection and turbulence, and the production and properties of energetic particles. My work uses high energy observations (X-ray, EUV) to study flares and energetic particles at the Sun, and the creation of kinetic models to study particle acceleration and particle and X-ray transport effects in flares. 

My current list of publications can be found here.

My current CV (updated January 2022) can be found here.

I obtained my PhD in solar physics in 2014 at the University of Glasgow on the “Spatial, spectral and polarisation properties of solar flare X-ray sources” before becoming a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Glasgow. In 2019, I joined Northumbria University as a Vice-Chancellor Fellow/Lecturer.

I am currently the Chair of the UK Solar Physics council.

Between 2016 and 2018 I received the following prizes for my research: European Geophysical Union (EGU) Solar-­Terrestrial Early Career Researcher Prize, European Physical Society (EPS) Solar Physics Division (ESPD) Early Career Researcher Prize, and the EPS Plasma Physics Thesis Prize. 

Selected current (and previous) grants/awards:

UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Consolidated Grant (2024-26) for “Determining Solar Flare Hard X-ray Directivity using Stereoscopic Observations with Solar Orbiter/STIX” (£248,301). 

UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) New Applicant Grant (2021-24) for “Exploring the connection between solar flare energetic electrons observed at the Sun and in the heliosphere” (£372,452). 

Franco-British Council Alliance Hubert Curien Programme (2021-22)
“Solar flare turbulence” £2240 per year (two years) for workshop organisation in the UK and France related to understanding solar flare turbulence at the Sun and in the heliosphere.
 
International Space Science Institute (ISSI) project (2022-24)
"Measuring Solar Flare X-ray Directivity using Stereoscopic Observations with SolO/STIX and X-ray instrumentation at Earth". In this project, we will bring together X-ray instrument team members to calibrate X-ray data from different instrumentation at Earth and from STIX. This will allow us to produce reliable HXR directivity observations (first in decades) and provide an important link to the flare-accelerated electron angular distribution (a key link to the acceleration mechanism).

In 2019-2020 I also led International Space Science Institute (ISSI) Bern team Solar flare acceleration signatures and their connection to solar energetic particles with Dr Frederic Effenberger (Helmholtz Centre, Potsdam, Germany) with the aim to understand the connection between different populations of energetic particles produced at the Sun and in the heliosphere, and how they can be used to further our understanding of astrophysical plasma processes and astrophysical particle acceleration in general. 

 

 

 

 

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Spectral and Imaging Diagnostics of Spatially Extended Turbulent Electron Acceleration and Transport in Solar Flares, Stores, M., Jeffrey, N., McLaughlin, J. 29 Mar 2023, In: The Astrophysical Journal
  • The high-energy Sun - probing the origins of particle acceleration on our nearest star, Matthews, S., Reid, H., Baker, D., Bloomfield, D., Browning, P., Calcines, A., Del Zanna, G., Erdélyi, R., Jeffrey, N., Klein, L., Krucker, S., Kontar, E., Long, D., MacKinnon, A., Mann, G., Mathioudakis, M., Milligan, R., Nakariakov, V., Pesce-Rollins, M., Shih, A., Smith, D., Veronig, A., Vilmer, N. 1 Dec 2022, In: Experimental Astronomy
  • Non-thermal and Kappa Distributions in Solar Flare Radiative Signatures, Effenberger, F., Jeffrey, N. 28 Jul 2021, Kappa Distributions, Cham, Springer
  • The Spatial and Temporal Variations of Turbulence in a Solar Flare, Stores, M., Jeffrey, N., Kontar, E. 10 Dec 2021, In: Astrophysical Journal
  • Probing solar flare accelerated electron distributions with prospective X-ray polarimetry missions, Jeffrey, N., Saint-Hilaire, P., Kontar, E. Oct 2020, In: Astronomy & Astrophysics
  • Subsecond Time Evolution of Type III Solar Radio Burst Sources at Fundamental and Harmonic Frequencies, Chen, X., Kontar, E., Chrysaphi, N., Jeffrey, N., Gordovskyy, M., Yan, Y., Tan, B. 10 Dec 2020, In: Astrophysical Journal
  • Anisotropic Radio-Wave Scattering and the Interpretation of Solar Radio Emission Observations, Kontar, E., Chen, X., Chrysaphi, N., Jeffrey, N., Emslie, A., Krupar, V., Maksimovic, M., Gordovskyy, M., Browning, P. 17 Oct 2019, In: Astrophysical Journal
  • Determination of the Total Accelerated Electron Rate and Power Using Solar Flare Hard X-Ray Spectra, Kontar, E., Jeffrey, N., Emslie, A. 4 Feb 2019, In: Astrophysical Journal
  • Global Energetics of Solar Flares. VIII. The Low-energy Cutoff, Aschwanden, M., Kontar, E., Jeffrey, N. 10 Aug 2019, In: Astrophysical Journal

Morgan Stores Exploring the production of solar flare energetic electrons by turbulence in spatially extended acceleration regions Start Date: 18/01/2021

  • Physics PhD December 31 2014
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy FHEA


a sign in front of a crowd
+

Northumbria Open Days

Open Days are a great way for you to get a feel of the University, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the course(s) you are interested in.

Research at Northumbria
+

Research at Northumbria

Research is the life blood of a University and at Northumbria University we pride ourselves on research that makes a difference; research that has application and affects people's lives.

NU World
+

Explore NU World

Find out what life here is all about. From studying to socialising, term time to downtime, we’ve got it covered.


Latest News and Features

An image of people sitting on benches in a park surrounded by trees
Northumbria student signs first major book publishing deal
AHRC banner, showing different people involved doing different activites.
Relief workers walking through rubble in the aftermath of a storm in North Africa.
£1 million funding award supports leading new medical research at Northumbria University
More news
More events

Upcoming events

Some prickly Predicaments in Sonification
The Quorn Story

Back to top