Scientific Interests

Eric's scientific interests revolve around the formation and evolution of matter in the Universe. Cosmic rays give us one of our few direct sources of material from outside the solar system. His primary observational interest is in galactic cosmic ray isotopic composition and cosmic ray antimatter. He is also interested in cosmic rays from the solar system, called "anomalous cosmic rays", solar modulation of cosmic rays (the solar wind blows a bubble that keeps out low energy cosmic rays) and a puzzle in solar modulation called the charge-sign asymmetry problem.

Typical Day at Work

Eric has a hard time describing a typical day at work because he's working on so many projects that there really isn't a typical day! That is one of the things he likes about this job, there are always new puzzles and challenges to solve. In general, he spends a fair amount of his time writing in one way or another: scientific papers, answering e-mail, web page design, programming for data analysis, paperwork for the ACE spacecraft, proposals for funding, etc. He also spends a fair amount of time in scientific discussions with other scientists, either in meetings or conference calls. This is where strategies for the design of new instruments and the construction of approved ones, or data analysis from existing experiments are planned out. He also constantly needs to be reading papers and attending talks that describe what other people in the field and related fields are doing and have discovered. Another thing he likes about this job is that he is constantly learning new things.