Benjamin R.T. Cotts, Ph.D.

Dr. Cotts is experienced in both applied and theoretical electromagnetics and plasma physics as well as in the initiation, field effects and propagation of lightning discharges. He is experienced in on-site and remote-access diagnostics and maintenance of custom scientific instruments located in remote areas. These instruments have been used to study the role of lightning in space weather. He has been a leading figure in coordinating scientific outreach to developing countries through the United Nations International Heliophysical Year (IHY) and International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI) programs and has organized and led multiple conferences on atmospheric and space science.

In one of his principal investigations, Dr. Cotts combined remote sensing measurements of ionospheric disturbances with numerical modeling of atmospheric, ionospheric and magnetospheric interactions to determine the role of global lightning on the removal of radiation belt electrons. These radiation belt electrons are a critical factor for determining the effective lifetime of spacecraft, the electronics of which can be irreversibly damaged over time by these radiation belt electrons. Dr. Cotts was also involved in designing and building an interferometer to test the phase stability of the Main Drive Line at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in preparation for the LINAC Coherent Light Source.

Additionally, Dr. Cotts is experienced in the use of Matlab and has experience in C, C++, Mathematica, as well as both Windows and Linux operating systems.

Cotts BRT. Global quantification of lightning-induced electron precipitaiton using very low frequency remote sensing. Doctoral Dissertation, Stanford University, 2011.

Haldoupis C, Amvrosiadi N, Cotts BRT, Van der Velde O, Chanrion O, Neubert T. More evidence for a one-to-one correlation between Sprites and Early VLF perturbations. Journal of Geophysical Research 2010, 115:A07304. doi:10.1029/2009JA015165.

NaitAmor S, Al Abdoadaim MA, Cohen MB, Cotts BRT, Neubeurt T, Soula S, Chanrion O, Abdelatif T. VLF observations of ionospheric disturbances in association with TLEs from the Eurosprite-2007 Campaign, Journal of Geophysical Research 2010; 115:A00E47. doi:10.1029/2009JA015026.

Cotts BRT, Inan US. VLF observation of long ionospheric recovery events. Geophysical Research Letters 2007; 34:L14809. doi:10.1029/2007GL030094.

Presentations

Cotts BRT, Inan US, Lehtinen NG. Theoretical prediction of longitudinal dependence of electron precipitation due to lightning. AGU Fall Meeting, Poster, San Francisco, CA, December 14–18, 2009.

Inan US, Cotts BRT, Lehtinen NG. Long recovery early/fast events as possible evidence of persistent ionization by Giant Blue Jets. IUGG Oral Presentation, Perugia, Italy, July 2–13, 2007.

Cotts BRT, Inan US, Lehtinen NG. Long recovery early/fast events as possible evidence of persistent ionization by Giant Blue Jets. URSI Oral Presentation, Ottawa, Canada, July 22–26, 2007.

Cotts BRT, Inan US. Observation of daytime perturbations of VLF transmitter signals. ICAE Oral Presentation, Beijing, China, August 13–17, 2007.

Cotts BRT, Inan US. Daytime early VLF perturbations exhibiting long recoveries and wide-angle scattering. AGU Poster, San Francisco, CA, December 10–14, 2007.

Cotts BRT, Inan US. VLF observation of long ionospheric recovery events. AGU Poster, San Francisco, CA, December 11–15, 2006.

Cotts BRT, Inan US, Pasko VP. Ray tracing techniques applied to sky wave observations of lightning-induced ionospheric effects on short range VLF paths. URSI, Oral Presentation, Boulder, CO, January 5–8, 2005.

Cotts BRT, Inan US. Ray-based modeling of lightning-induced ionospheric effects on short range VLF skywave signals. AGU Poster, San Francisco, CA, December 5–9, 2005.

Cotts BRT, Inan US. Short range VLF sky wave observations of lightning-induced ionospheric effects. AGU Poster, San Francisco, CA, December 13–17, 2004.

Cotts BRT, Inan US, Golkowski M. Lightning-induced electron precipitation measurements with VLF and the Arecibo Radar. PARS Summer School, Oral Presentation, Arecibo, PR, August 10–21, 2004.

Cotts BRT, Inan US, Selser E. ELF/VLF near-field imaging of modulated auroral-electrojet currents using a VLF interferometer. PARS Summer School, Oral Presentation, University of Fairbanks Alaska, August 11–21, 2003.

Cotts BRT, Inan US. Precipitation of energetic electrons by Magnetospherically Reecting (MR) Whistlers. AGU, Poster, San Francisco, CA, December 8–12, 2003.

• Post Doctoral Scholar, University of Colorado, Denver, 2011
• International Science Outreach Manager, Stanford University, 2007–2011
• Research Assistant, Stanford University, 2002–2011
• Energy Research Fellow, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, 2001