Matina Gkioulidou

Dr. Matina Gkioulidou is a space physicist with broad interests that span different regions in space and space plasma regimes, from plasma acceleration processes in the Earth’s magnetosphere during geomagnetic storms to our heliosphere’s interactions with the interstellar medium. Her research focuses on experimental space physics, including data analysis from space missions and energetic particle instrumentation. As co-investigator (Co-I) of the RBSPICE instrument on the Van Allen Probes mission, she investigated physical processes that led to the development of geomagnetic storm-time ring current and ionospheric outflow. As a Co-I of the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission, she leads the development of the IMAP-Ultra instrument, which will measure Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENAs) coming all the way from our heliospheric boundary, revealing how that boundary is shaped by interactions with the interstellar medium. She is also the deputy instrument scientist for the JENI instrument on ESA’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, which will provide ENA images of Jupiter’s magnetosphere for the first time. Dr. Gkioulidou has a track record of active engagement in the heliophysics community, and she was appointed a member of the Heliophysics Advisory Committee in 2021.