Dr Ryan Campbell – Queen’s University Belfast

I am a Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, where my research focuses on spectropolarimetry, inversions, and the use of machine learning in solar physics. I have worked extensively with observations from facilities including DKIST and Sunrise III, with a particular interest in extracting the physics of the solar atmosphere from increasingly rich spectropolarimetric observations. I previously served on the UKSP Council as the PhD representative, and I would be very pleased to return as a Staff Member. That experience gave me a good appreciation of the role UKSP plays in connecting our community, supporting researchers at different career stages, and representing the interests of UK solar physics more broadly. If elected, one area I would particularly like to contribute to is advocacy for sustained investment in astrophysics through UKRI and STFC, especially given the increasingly challenging funding environment. I would be particularly keen to ensure that the interests of early career researchers are represented, since reductions in fellowship, grant and research opportunities can have especially significant consequences at the stages where researchers are trying to establish independent careers. More generally, I would be keen to contribute actively to UKSP initiatives, meetings and community activities, and to help ensure that UKSP continues to provide a strong and representative voice for the UK solar-physics community.

Dr Graham Kerr – University of Glasgow

I am pleased to be able to submit my nomination for the UKSP council, and hope to help our community remain vibrant and World-leading during these turbulent times for our field. Having spent 9 years abroad based at NASA/GSFC and having returned to the UK this year as a Royal Society University Research Fellow, I have had to navigate the various paths, and obstacles, faced by early and mid-career scientists. Those experiences make me keen to ensure that others have the support needed (both official and unofficial) as they progress in their career. The UKSP council is a key resource to provide such support. As well as being a researcher within several international collaborations and a member of various mission science teams, I have useful experience that will aid me as a member of the council: (1) I was a member of the American Astronomical Society/Solar Physics Division’s Public Policy Committee, advocating for heliophysics, (2) I was a member of the Heliophysics Thematic Panel of Space Frontiers 2035, and (3) I have been active in various EDI and workplace climate efforts in my prior roles. Thank you for your consideration.