Jan Deca graduated his PhD studies at KU Leuven’s Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics in October 2014 and accepted a postdoctoral position at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder shortly after. He is currently a senior research scientist and a lecturer at CU Boulder’s Physics Department and Graduate School. His research focuses on the fully kinetic modeling of fine-scale ion and electron dynamics that arise when a body is immersed in a plasma or planetary environment. Since 2012, he has contributed more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, including several high-impact papers in Physical Review Letters and Nature. Dr. Deca currently leads multiple NASA-funded research projects focused on lunar crustal magnetic anomalies and plasma wakes throughout the Solar System. He serves as the modeling lead for the DUSTER rover, a payload of the Artemis IV mission to the lunar south pole region, as well as for a heliophysics-oriented project on space debris. He is also a co-investigator on the Comet Interceptor and BepiColombo missions, and actively mentors graduate and undergraduate students.