Clare Elizabeth Parnell (born 1970) is a British astrophysicist and applied mathematician who studies the mathematics of the sun and of

magnetic field A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and t ...

s, including the

Solar corona A corona ( coronas or coronae) is the outermost layer of a star's atmosphere. It consists of plasma. The Sun's corona lies above the chromosphere and extends millions of kilometres into outer space. It is most easily seen during a total sola ...

and the sun's magnetic carpet,

magnetic reconnection Magnetic reconnection is a physical process occurring in highly conducting plasmas in which the magnetic topology is rearranged and magnetic energy is converted to kinetic energy, thermal energy, and particle acceleration. Magnetic reconnectio ...

plasma Plasma or plasm may refer to: Science * Plasma (physics), one of the four fundamental states of matter * Plasma (mineral), a green translucent silica mineral * Quark–gluon plasma, a state of matter in quantum chromodynamics Biology * Blood plas ...

, and the null points of magnetic fields. She is a professor of mathematics at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, and the former head of the Division of Applied Mathematics at St Andrews.

Education and career

Parnell was born in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and educated at The Ridgeway School and Swindon Technical College. As a child, she found mathematics to be her easiest subject. She entered the University of Wales College Cardiff in 1988, originally intending to study both chemistry and mathematics, but after a year switched to mathematics only. In 1991 she completed a bachelor's degree with first class honours in mathematics at Cardiff. She then came to the University of St Andrews as a doctoral student, finishing her Ph.D. in theoretical solar physics in 1994. She remained at St Andrews as a postdoctoral researcher (interrupted by research at Stanford University in 1996–1997), became a lecturer in 2002, and was promoted to professor in 2011. From 2009 to 2013 she was head of the Division of Applied Mathematics at St Andrews.

Recognition

In 2006, Parnell won the Fowler Prize for Early Achievement in Astronomy and Geophysics of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

for her research on how the Solar corona is heated. In 2007 she won a

Philip Leverhulme Prize The Philip Leverhulme Prize is awarded by the Leverhulme Trust to recognise the achievement of outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future career is exceptionally promising. The prize schem ...

for her work on solar physics.

Personal

Parnell is an avid mountaineer and chose the University of Wales in part for its nearby mountains. In her three years as a doctoral student at St Andrews, she climbed all 277 peaks then listed as

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

s. She has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parnell, Clare 1970 births Living people British mathematicians British women mathematicians British astrophysicists Women astrophysicists Alumni of the University of Wales Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of St Andrews