About Me
Hi, I’m Michelle! I am a Fall 2025 Space Sciences PhD student at U-Michigan CLASP and former physics major who loves the Sun and Earth’s magnetosphere. I’m also passionate about teaching and working towards a more effective, inclusive academia.
Feel free to reach out to me via email at mxbui@umich.edu
About my research experience
I finished my MS in Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University, where I worked with Dr. David Hysell’s aeronomy research group to study small-scale irregularities in Earth’s E-region ionosphere. These small-scale irregularities occur in dense, sporadic ionization layers, which we can observe through coherent scatter radar echoes. The radar echoes revealed structures and patterns within these ionization layers. With the help of Dr. Miguel Larsen, we connected these structures and patterns with the plausible behavior of dynamic thermospheric winds in the upper atmosphere. I simulated this wind behavior and tested its possibility of driving a plasma response that resembled our observations (Bui et al., 2023; Hysell et al., 2024).
Previously, I completed an Honors B.S. in Physics with minor in Mathematics at University of Texas at Arlington. During my undergraduate degree, I worked for two geospace physics research groups.
In Dr. Ramon Lopez’s research group, I studied electromagnetic relationships in Earth’s magnetopshere using field and plasma datasets from NASA THEMIS and OMNI data. On the dayside of Earth, interactions between solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field results in a current sheet known as the magnetopause. When I was funded as a McNair Scholar, I completed my Honors thesis on characterizing the relationship between the dayside magnetopause current sheet and the solar wind (Bui and Lopez, 2021). This collection of magnetopause observations and analyses also contributed to a graduate student’s thesis work (Bagheri et al., 2019, Bagheri, 2021). In addition to my work on the dayside magnetosphere, I also got to study the nightside, where the magnetosphere stretches and contains a magnetotail current sheet, which can contain bursty bulk flows of plasmas. I analyzed observations of bursty bulk flows in field and plasma data and connected them to evidence of solar activity (Streetman et al., 2018).
In Dr. Daniel Welling’s research group, I branched into more interdisciplinary space physics research. I investigated ground-level space weather impacts using magnetometer data from the SuperMAG database. I contributed to the creation of an index estimating magnetic field perturbations by triangulating field data. This index was used in a collaboration with Dr. Ben Winger’s ornithology research group at University of Michigan, where they studied a correlation between deviations in bird migration and space weather phenomena (Gulson-Castillo et al., 2024). In another project, I also contributed to a study of plasma outflow into the magnetosphere through the CUSIA group. This plasma outflows from Earth’s ionosphere near the polar regions, and asymmetries in these outflows can be connected to the motion and tilt of the magnetotail. I examined the specific causes of magnetotail tilt by comparing mass, motion, and field data from NASA Cluster data and several versions of the Tsyganenko empirical magnetic field model (Bui et al, 2020).
About my teaching, tutoring, and outreach
I believe that a teacher and mentor should be effective, intentional, and patient in order to build strong, independent learners. I have taught and mentored a variety of students with various goals and needs, including many nontraditional and first-generation college students. I deeply believe that education and academia is a place for everyone.
I recently worked as an Adjunct Instructor and Professional Tutor at Tompkins-Cortland Community College (Dryden, NY). I taught an accelerated Introduction to Databases course for students pursuing associates degrees in Computer Science, Information Science, Information Technology, Accounting, and similar majors. At the Math & Science Tutoring Center, I specialized in Physics I-II, Calculus I-III, Pre-Calculus, College Algebra, Introduction to Computer Science, and Technology courses. Prior to this, I worked as an Academic Instructor and Tutor at Porter Tutoring (Arlington, TX). I developed curriculum and instruction for SAT/ACT preparation courses as well as homeschool math and sciences for nontraditional middle to high school students. In addition to teaching, I also tutored college and K-12 students in math and sciences.
Through my local chapter of Women in Physics at UT Arlington, I also founded an outreach program to encourage middle and high school students to pursue STEM careers. I recruited my peers to host hands-on science activities at local schools and mentored middle and high school students.
Other things about me
Aside from academics, I spend my time enjoying music and amateurly playing instruments. Painting, embroidering, and cooking are some of my favorite ways to relax. Recent additions to my favorite media include Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Succession (2018-2023).