Dr. Nick Featherstone is a fluid dynamicist in the Department of Solar and Heliospheric Physics.  His research centers around understanding how convective flows in stars and planets generate and sustain a magnetic field. He is particularly interested in understanding how convection in the deep solar interior drives the Sun’s 22-year magnetic cycle.  Dr. Featherstone has extensive experience in fluid dynamics, magnetohydrodynamics, wave theory, helioseismology and high-performance computing.  He is the lead developer of the Rayleigh convection code, a tool used by stellar and planetary scientists to study magnetic field generation in the interiors of stars and planets.   He is also a member of the leadership team for NASA’s COFFIES DRIVE center.   Dr. Featherstone earned a B.S. in physics from North Carolina State University, and a Ph.D. in Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences from the University of Colorado, Boulder.