Rate My Professor Brian Fraser

Emeritus Professor Brian Fraser holds the position of Emeritus Professor in the College of Engineering, Science and Environment within the Discipline of Physics at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He earned his PhD from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, along with a Master of Science with Honours and a Bachelor of Science from the University of New Zealand. Appointed as a Lecturer in 1968, Fraser built the Space Plasma Waves Group, which evolved into the Space Physics Group. He served as Head of the Physics Department from 1987 to 1990 and led extensive research on magnetospheric physics and waves in space plasmas. His work emphasizes ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves, geomagnetic pulsations, ion cyclotron waves, and hydromagnetic waves in the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere. Key initiatives under his leadership included installing magnetometers at Australian and New Zealand Antarctic bases, collaborations with UCLA on ATS-6 and ISEE spacecraft data, CRRES satellite studies, and development of the NewMag fluxgate magnetometer for the FedSat microsatellite launched in 2002. The group also contributed to the SuperDARN TIGER radar in Tasmania, imaging riometers at Davis Station, and optical imagers at Scott Base.

Fraser supervised 24 PhD and MSc higher degree students and maintained international cooperative research on high-latitude cusp dynamics, plasma diagnostics, and spacecraft observations of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves. He held editorial positions as Editor of Geophysical Research Letters from 1993 to 1996, served on the AGU Publications Committee from 1998 to 2002, and chaired AGU Editor Search Committees. His honors include the Senior Research Associateship from the US National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council in 2003, the Australian Engineering Excellence Award from Engineers Australia in 2003, and fellowships from the Royal Astronomical Society and the Australian Institute of Physics. Notable publications include the journal article 'On the Little-Known Consequences of the 4 August 1972 Ultra-Fast Coronal Mass Ejecta: Facts, Commentary, and Call to Action' (2018), 'Dependence of EMIC wave parameters during quiet, geomagnetic storm, and geomagnetic storm phase times' (2016), and the chapter 'Classification of Pc1-2 electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves at geosynchronous orbit' (2012). His contributions have significantly influenced studies of wave propagation, substorms, and space weather diagnostics.