Los Alamos National Laboratory
astricklan@lanl.gov
I'm a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). I have a BS in Astrophysics, MS in Physics, and MS and PhD in Astronomy. My research focuses on the thermal and dynamical behavior of astrophysical plasmas using high-resolution simulations and analytical tools, with a focus on radiative instabilities and hydrodynamic modeling.
Link to CV
I am currently working as a scientist at LANL with Dr. Tim Waters. Our work lies at the intersection of computational astrophysics and plasma dynamics, with a focus on radiative processes and thermal instabilities in optically thin environments. I am part of a team that develops and maintains hydrodynamics codes used to explore astrophysical and solar plasma phenomena. Recent research includes the development of a Λc-based framework for the stability analysis of cooling functions, revealing the dynamical relevance of catastrophic cooling instabilities in coronal loop models. I have also contributed to the identification and characterization of a distinct linear instability mode—separate from traditional thermal instability—that plays a key role in nonequilibrium plasma cooling. This work was presented at the 11th Coronal Loop Workshop in Tenerife and will soon be published in Solar Physics and the Astrophysical Journal.
After earning a master’s degree, I worked for a year at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as a research assistant. My project was to use machine learning techniques and particle data from the Air Force’s GPS constellation to create a geomagnetic cutoff model. This model predicts how far highly energetic particles from the Sun can penetrate Earth’s magnetosphere. I was also responsible for contributing to the open-source Python library Spacepy.
My research with NMSU was to study jet-like structures called spicules at the boundary of coronal holes and their role in mass/energy transfer in the solar atmosphere. Using data from the Swedish Solar Telescope (SST), NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), and Parker Solar Probe (PSP), we are working to track these jets from the surface of the Sun up through the solar atmosphere. By building a statistical database and studying the multi-threaded nature of these spicules, we hope to gain a better understanding of how they move plasma through the atmosphere and out into space. We are also looking into the mechanisms that feed these spicules through spectral analysis, 1D numerical simulations, and potential field source surface modeling. I also work closely with the Dunn Solar Telescope.
My undergraduate research and master’s thesis involved using carbon monoxide (CO) as a hydrogen tracer to study condensed clumps in a diffuse molecular cloud. We used spectral analysis of these structures to explore the processes that shape these cloud boundaries.
As an undergrad I also minored in paleoanthropology. In the summer of 2018, I worked on an excavation site in the Lake Turkana region of Kenya. My research project was to field test a new phytolithic (small micro-fossils) extraction process and use phytolithic analysis to study the earliest controlled use of fire.
Stricklan, A. & Waters, T. “On the stability analysis of optically thin cooling functions,” 2025, ApJ, accepted
Waters, T., & Stricklan, A. “Catastrophic cooling in optically thin plasmas,” 2025, Solar Physics, 300, 5, DOI.
Carver, M. R., Morley, S. K., & Stricklan, A. L. "GPS Constellation Energetic Particle Measurements." 2020, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), DOI.
Stricklan, A. (2019). "Isolated Molecular Clumps at the CO-Boundary of a Diffuse Molecular Cloud", .S. thesis, University of Georgia, 2019, [Thesis]
A. Stricklan, T. Waters, J. Klimchuk “A new explanation for coronal rain formation,” American Astronomical Society Meeting, oral session, 2025.
A. Stricklan, T. Waters, “On the analysis of optically thin cooling functions,” 11th Coronal Loops Workshop, poster session, 2024.
A. Stricklan, “Coronal hole jets: A look at these beasts and what feeds them,” American Astronomical Society Meeting, poster session, 2023.
S. Morley, Y. Chen, M. Carver, A. Stricklan, and M. Engel, “Monitoring and Diagnosing Solar Energetic Particle Events Using the Global Positioning System Constellation,” American Geophysical Meeting, poster session, 2022.
A. Stricklan, “Physical properties of coronal hole jets,” New Mexico State University Special Research Topics, oral presentation, 2021.
A. Stricklan, S. Morley, and M. Carver, “Using GPS particle measurements to model geomagnetic cutoff,” American Meteorological Society Conference, poster/oral presentation, 2021.
A. Stricklan, “The search for early fire: A phytolithic study of site FxJj 20 AB,” Society of American Archeology, poster presentation, 2019.
Both through the NMSU Department of Astronomy an as an individual, I have participated in numerous volunteer and outreach activities. These include events with the Las Cruces Museum of Nature and Science, Astronomical Society of Las Cruces, Sunspot Solar Observatory, Mission2Mars programs, Letters to a Pre-Scientist, Celebration of Our Mountains, and local public libraries and schools.
I love sharing astronomy with the general public and connecting with students in their love of science and future in STEM.