Doug Braun is a solar physicist with a primary interest in helioseismology, the use of solar oscillations to probe the interior of the Sun. His PhD dissertation at the University of Hawaii in 1988 included the discovery of the acoustic absorption properties of sunspots, and the techniques Braun developed were used in the first application of what is now known as local helioseismology. In the 1990s, Braun discovered that sunspots scatter acoustic waves, and with Y. Fan, produced the first model of the wave speed structure beneath sunspots. He also worked with C. Lindsey to develop a general methodology, called helioseismic holography, and in 2000 applied this method to detect and predict active regions on the far surface of the Sun. In addition to his COFFIES activities, Braun is funded by the NASA Heliophysics program to infer and model solar subsurface flows below magnetic regions as well as inferring the subsurface supergranular flows.

In the Near-surface Shear layer Theme, Braun will help to improve analysis and understanding meridional and zonal flows, as well as sound-speed variations, from SG-23 into SG-25. More generally, Braun will also contribute to understanding systematic uncertainties in helioseismic measurements.