Iver Cairns

Professor Iver Cairns is Professor in Space Physics in the School of Physics, Faculty of Science, at the University of Sydney. He earned a B.Sc. with First Class Honours and a PhD from the University of Sydney, completing his PhD in 1987. Prior to joining the University of Sydney in 1998, he held positions as Assistant Research Scientist and Associate Research Scientist at the University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy from 1986 to 1998.

Professor Cairns has more than 30 years of experience in space physics and space weather research, with primary expertise in the theory, simulation, observations, and analysis of plasma waves, radio emissions, waves, and shocks in space plasmas. He is Director of CUAVA, the ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs, and their Applications. Cairns is a Co-Investigator on NASA's STEREO Waves (SWAVES) instrument and has participated in NASA's PUNCH and TRACERS missions since June 2019. He was selected by NASA in 2019 for two satellite missions studying the Sun and space weather. Additionally, he serves as Network Leader for Sydney SpaceNet and has held leadership positions in the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS), Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), International Association for Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA), and the Solar Terrestrial and Space Physics Group of the Australian Institute of Physics.

In 2023, Professor Cairns received the Scientist of the Year award at the Australian Space Awards and was elected an honorary member of AOGS. He has authored over 300 refereed publications, accumulating more than 11,800 citations on Google Scholar, demonstrating his significant influence in the field.

Professional Email: iver.cairns@sydney.edu.au