DR. MIHO JANVIER
SOLAR / SPACE PHYSICIST

Miho Janvier is a solar and space physicist at the European Space Agency (ESA/ESTEC, NL), seconded from  the  Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (France). While her doctorate degree is in plasma physics and applications to nuclear fusion science, her current work focuses on the understanding of when solar flares occur, how solar storms travel in space and how they impact planetary environments in the solar system. 

In a nutshell, she works towards a better prediction of "space weather", with a goal of better understanding the influence of the Sun's activity on human societies. She uses data from space missions from NASA, ESA and JAXA as well as analyse and develop with her team and collaborators 3D computer models of solar eruptions.

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Miho currently works at ESA in the project science team for Solar Orbiter. She is also the deputy project scientist on the instrument SPICE as well as a scientific co-Investigator on the instrument EUI on board Solar Orbiter, the ESA/NASA mission to explore the Sun and its close neighbourhood. The mission was launched in February 2020 from Cape Canaveral, (FL, USA) and is currently orbiting the Sun. 

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Miho works closely with partners around the world to enhance data collection during the Solar Orbiter observation campaigns. These include missions from NASA (IRIS, Parker Solar Probe), JAXA (Hinode, JAXA/ESA Bepi Colombo), as well as ground-based telescopes such as the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, Big Bear solar observatory in California, and facilities in the Canary Islands. These coordinated campaigns are crucial to obtain a comprehensive dataset of our Sun.

Her passion for astrophysics and science communication has led her to develop several science communication projects, and has set up a non-profit organisation called SpaceTravelVR (www.spacetravelvr.com). She partnered with the movie production company TreeHouse Digital Ltd to develop a 360 degrees experience of a solar storm using science data and VFX, and is currently working with the French  national space agency CNES and ESA to develop a project showcasing the Solar Orbiter mission in Virtual Reality. She is also a public speaker, as well as a keen communicator and is involved in several NPOs dedicated to engage the public in difficult situations (e.g. hospitals and prisons).

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Miho was named WIRED UK Innovation fellow in 2016 and is a TED Fellow since 2017

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