Richard Morton

Dr. Richard Morton is an Associate Professor at Northumbria University and a UKRI Future Leader Fellow. His research focuses on the role of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in solar physics, particularly their contribution to heating the solar corona and accelerating the solar wind. He utilizes data from both satellite-based (e.g., Solar Dynamics Observatory, Hi-C) and ground-based telescopes (e.g., Coronal Multi-Channel Polarimeter) to study these phenomena.

• Key Research Areas: MHD waves, Alfvénic wave dynamics, solar wind acceleration, and energy transfer in the solar atmosphere.
• Methodologies: Numerical Bayesian analysis, Machine Learning, and Neural Networks applied to solar data.

His recent projects include the STFC-funded ‘Imagining the Sun’ outreach initiative, which combines science and art to engage schools and communities. His academic contributions have been recognized with the Royal Astronomical Society's Winton Capital Prize (2015) and Fowler Award (2021).

Scientific Awards:

• Royal Astronomical Society's Winton Capital Prize (2015)
• Royal Astronomical Society's Fowler Award (2021)
• Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellowship (2014)
• UKRI Future Leader Fellowship

PhD Supervision: Dr. Morton supervises students working on topics such as solar wave propagation and uncertainty quantification in deep learning for solar physics.