I am a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, and from 2000 to 2006 was heavily involved in the effort to change introductory physics at MIT to an interactive format (see a brief history of this effort by Dr. Lori Breslow at “Wrestling with Pedagogical Change”). For these efforts I was honored as the 2016 Oersted Medalist of the American Association of Physics Teachers.
I am very interested in visualization, especially in electromagnetism (see my electromagnetism visualization page).
My research interests are space plasma physics, outer planet magnetospheres, solar wind in the outer heliosphere, and astrophysical plasmas. I was Principal Investigator on the Voyager Plasma Science Experiment during the Voyager Nepture Encounter–the end of the Grand Tour. I am now a Co-Investigator on the Plasma Science Experiment onboard the Voyager Interstellar Mission.
Voyager 2 crossed the solar wind termination shock in August of 2007 (see figure below). Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause into the interstellar medium in August of 2012. The Voyager 2 crossing of the heliopause occurred in November of 2018, and now for the first time the MIT instrument on board Voyager 2 is measuring the properties of the local interstellar medium.
I have twice received the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, once for my contributions to the understanding of the plasma dynamics of the Jovian magnetosphere, in 1980, and once for my role as Principal Investigator on the Plasma Science Experiment on Voyager during the Neptune encounter, in 1990.
Professor Belcher’s research interests are within the areas of space plasma physics, in particular the interaction of the heliosphere with the local interstellar medium. He was the principal investigator on the Voyager Plasma Science Experiment during the Voyager Neptune Encounter—the end of the Grand Tour. He is now a co-investigator on the Plasma Science Experiment on board the Voyager Interstellar Mission. He has also published scholarly studies of the results of introducing interactive engagement techniques into introductory physics courses at MIT, as in TEAL.