NASA recently appointed James J. Beatty — former chair of the Department of Physics, professor of both physics and astronomy, and member of the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics — to its Physics of the Cosmos Program Analysis Group (PhysPAG) Executive Committee. He will serve from December 2016 through December 2019.

PhysPAG plays an important role in the future of NASA's investment in its Physics of the Cosmos Program. Its analysis will be extremely important in determining technology-development priorities and future science requirements.

"I will help the group evaluate missions and technologies both in my own area of expertise (cosmic ray and neutrino astrophysics) and in related areas," said Beatty. "I also expect I will help to organize opportunities for the cosmic ray and neutrino communities to discuss ideas for future projects that might become NASA missions."

Beatty, a leader in experimental particle astrophysics, has detected and characterized galactic cosmic rays, including both nuclei and electrons/positrons, ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), and UHE neutrinos. His pioneering work includes participating in the balloon-borne Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) to observe the first UHE neutrinos interacting with the Antarctic ice shelf and work at the Pierre Auger Observatory, observing the highest energy cosmic rays ever recorded of the universe.

"I’ll be bringing the perspectives gained doing suborbital and ground-based cosmic ray and neutrino physics over the last three decades to a broader range of scientific problems," said Beatty.

Members of PhysPAG are drawn from all disciplines represented in NASA’s cosmic physics programs. Beatty says that this appointment is a significant one for him, for his research and for physics at Ohio State.

"This provides an opportunity to share our work here with a broader community of physicists, astrophysicists and astronomers, and to learn about upcoming ideas and projects that might be of interest."