Dr. Ryan French is a Brinson Prize Fellow at the National Solar Observatory (NSO), working in the Kazachenko group. Ryan’s research primarily explores the nature of highly explosive events on the Sun, known as solar flares. He uses a range of ground and space-based instrumentation across the electromagnetic spectrum to determine the physics of solar flares at onset and throughout their evolution. Ryan received his Ph.D. in Spring 2022 from the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, spending a portion of his Ph.D. as a Newkirk Fellow at the NCAR High Altitude Observatory here in Boulder.
Beyond his scientific research, Ryan is also an avid science communicator, with a decade of experience presenting science and astronomy to a diverse range of audiences in university and public observatory environments, through social media, and through interviews on BBC World News and BBC Radio 2. Ryan’s first book, ‘The Sun: beginner's guide to our local star,’ is set for publication in 2023.