Samuel Badman

ST Solar-Terrestrial Sciences

The 2026 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Samuel Badman for outstanding research on the physics of the solar wind measured by the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter.

Sam Badman has established himself as one of the most distinguished Early Career Scientists in the field of heliophysics. After earning his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in summer 2022, Badman joined the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory as a research scientist. Demonstrating exceptional promise, he was promoted to permanent staff just one year into his postdoctoral position — an uncommon and significant achievement.

During his PhD, Badman authored a landmark paper in The Astrophysical Journal titled 'Magnetic Connectivity of the Ecliptic Plane within 0.5 au: Potential Field Source Surface Modeling of the First Parker Solar Probe Encounter...', which has become one of the most cited student-led contributions to the Parker Solar Probe mission, the first space mission to enter the solar corona. This foundational work introduced new methodologies for tracing solar wind streams from the solar surface to interplanetary space and provided a careful, critical assessment of these methods in the context of near-Sun regimes. These techniques have since evolved into best practices, which are now widely adopted by the heliophysics community and have appeared in over 50 academic papers authored or co-authored by Badman. They have also influenced many more.

In recognition of his profound insight and pivotal role in mission science, colleagues often refer to Badman as the 'oracle' of the Parker Solar Probe mission. His work has shed new light on the structure of the solar atmosphere and the dynamic nature of the solar wind, as revealed by the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter missions. In situ measurements of the nascent solar wind as it escapes the solar atmosphere have revealed that it is continually perturbed by plasma jets and large folds in the magnetic field, known as 'switchbacks'. In groundbreaking research articles, he and his colleagues have demonstrated how these jets and magnetic switchbacks power the solar wind as it expands outward into the interplanetary medium. Badman's physical insights and rigorous approach have provided new understanding of how the solar atmosphere works, literally rewriting the textbooks on the solar wind. As part of his exceptional publication record, Badman has also co-led major reviews and science projects with teams gathered at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI). He has an unusually high number of co-authored publications for someone at his career stage; this is not due to courtesy inclusion, but because his contributions have been central to each publication. He contributed uniquely to every one of them.

Further demonstrating his exceptional collaborative spirit, Badman has also made his research codes and software open source for the benefit of the heliophysics community. His peers widely recognise the breadth and depth of his contributions to solar and heliophysics, marking him as a rising star in space science. For all these reasons, the Early Career Scientist award committee of the Solar-Terrestrial Sciences Division select Sam Badman for the 2026 Solar-Terrestrial Sciences Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award.