• B.S. Physics, University of Washington, 1975
• Ph.D. Physics, University of Washington, 1982
• Postdoctoral Research:
  • Director's Postdoctoral Fellow, LANL, 1983-1986.
• Employment:
  • Technical Staff Member, Condensed Matter & Thermal Physics, 1986–present
  • Laboratory Fellow, 1997–present
  • Center Leader, Center for Nonlinear Studies, 2005–present.

Research Interests:

• Turbulence- Rayleigh-Benard convection, 2D turbulence, turbulent mixing and Lagrangian fluid dynamics, Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence.
• Granular materials - vibrated chains, avalanches, flow on an inclined plane
• Multiphase flows - moderate Re particle/fluid interactions

Selected Recent Publications:

1. R.E. Ecke The Turbulence Problem: An Experimentalist's Perspective, Los Alamos Science 29, (2005).
2. S.Y. Chen, R.E. Ecke, G.L. Eyink, X. Wang, Z. Xiao, Physical mechanism of the two-dimensional enstrophy cascade, Phys.Rev. Lett. 91, 214501 (2003).
3. M.K. Rivera, W.B. Daniel, S.Y. Chen, R.E. Ecke, Energy and enstrophy transfer in decaying two-dimensional turbulence, Phys.Rev. Lett. 90, 104502 (2003).
4. P. Vorobieff, P & R.E. Ecke, Turbulent rotating convection: an experimental study, J. Fluid Mech.458 191 (2002).
5. Z.A. Daya, R.E. Ecke, Does turbulent convection feel the shape of the container? , Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 184501 (2001).
6. E. Ben-Naim, Z.A. Daya, P. Vorobieff, R.E. Ecke, Knots and random walks in vibrated granular chains, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 1414 (2001).
7. D.A. Egolf, I.V. Melnikov, W. Pesch, R.E. Ecke, Mechanisms of extensive spatiotemporal chaos in Rayleigh-Benard convection, Nature  404, 733 (2000).