My Journey as a Physicist

Dr. Allena Opper (she/her)
National Science Foundation
I am a nuclear physicist and have done experiments at laboratories across north America. I’ve been a professor at Ohio University and George Washington University. Since 2014 I have had the honor and privilege of serving as a program director of the National Science Foundation’s Nuclear Physics Program. During the pandemic I did a few online “Paint Night” things where the instructor guides the participants in making a painting with acrylic paints – I now have three “paintings” decorating a shelf in my closet! The Long Range Plan, like the previous LRPs, has valuable advice that DOE and NSF will use in making funding decisions -- just as importantly, it clearly
communicates to Congress and the American people the priorities and exciting opportunities in nuclear science.

I am a Chinese-American physicist, and I love gardening, cooking, walking and music. I have joint appointments between Brookhaven National Lab and Duke University. I am an experimentalist, who uses electrons and photons as microscopes to look deeper and deeper inside protons and neutrons, which are the building blocks of atomic nuclei, to advance our understanding about the structure of visible matter. While visible matter is only several percent of our universe, we, humans are made of visible matter. I am fascinated by the fact that I am studying myself and that gives me great joy.

This is the second time I served on the Long-Range Plan Writing Committee. www.tunl.duke.edu/~mep

I am an experimentalist working the field of nuclear and particle physics. I am a SUNY Distinguished Professor at Stony Brook University. I also serve as the Electron Ion Collier (EIC) Science Director at BNL and Director of the Center for Frontiers in Nuclear Science (CFNS). I like to use “spin” as a tool to investigate and understand nature — thus I always use polarized beams or targets. I have been involved experiments at BNL (both RHIC and AGS), at Jefferson Lab, PSI, CERN and DESY. These experiments addressed my interests in nucleon spin structure and also precision electroweak physics that push the boundaries of the Standard Model of Physics. In every one of them the property of “spin” played an important or pivotal role. I was one of the earliest Electron Ion Collider (EIC) enthusiast, having been involved from its birth/infancy to now- when it is being realized. It has been a privilege to be involved or participating in the US long range planing process since 2001 in all things related to the EIC. Through those years I learnt so many other things from friends and colleagues in our field including the wonderful initiatives like the FRIB which is operational now and the neutrino-less double beta decay experiments - which hopefully will also happen soon.

I am a theoretical physicist at Michigan Sate University working on nuclear science. I am a mother. I really enjoy interacting with people and nature. My research is on the theory for nuclear reactions, particularly those involving rare isotopes. I have an inquisitive mind, and research give me the tools for find answers. The long range plan is a mechanism for the research community to coalesce on the priorities for the field.

I am an experimental nuclear physicist at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, and I also love traveling and playing fetch with my dog. I work on the vibrations (structure) of rare-earth nuclei. The other area is on the intersection of nuclear science and society. Analysis is a big puzzle to solve, which I love. The nuclear community is a very welcoming and supportive community and that is why I chose this field. I am the chair of the writing committee on workforce development and DEI.

https://www.uwlax.edu/profile/slesher/

I am a nuclear physicist at LLNL and UC Davis, involved in APS leadership and I run far-ish. My research involves both heavy flavor production, mostly in cold nuclear matter, and the phenomenology of nuclear fission. I love the challenge of doing physics and the rush of understanding something new. I am on the Long Range Plan writing committee, the NSAC Nuclear Data subcommittee and Secretary-Treasurer of the DNP.

I am an experimental nuclear physicist at MIT. I like hiking and skiing on the weekends with my husband, three kids and our dog (the two cats usually stay home). My work centers on specialized experiments that make use of novel technology from quantum sensors to deep learning to push the bounds of what is measurable. The work is driven by big questions about the formation of our universe and how physics on the smallest scales leads to the universe we observe.

I'm a theoretical physicist at the Institute for Nuclear Theory at the University of Washington, and I also (try to) play guitar. I work on low-energy probes of physics beyond the Standard Model. I like to challenge the Standard Model and look for cracks in its fabric: at times it can be quite suspenseful, like a mystery novel.

I am a physicist at Texas A&M University focusing on experimental nuclear physics, and I also like playing tennis and golf, fishing and reading books. I use particle accelerators to study structure of atomic nuclei and nuclear reactions relevant for nucleosynthesis in stars. I love what I do because my experiments help advance general understanding of nuclei and origin of elements in the universe. Working on the nuclear physics Long-Range Plan is a fascinating opportunity to learn about recent advances in the field and contribute to shaping the future of nuclear physics for many years.

https://physics.tamu.edu/directory/rogachev/

I am a theoretical nuclear astrophysicist at the University of Notre Dame interested in the formation of the elements. I am also the mother of one daughter and doting aunt to eleven nieces and nephews. My work combines the nuclear theory of heavy nuclei, experimental results from radioactive isotope experiments, and astrophysical observations to understand how the heaviest elements are synthesized in the universe. It is a particularly exciting time for my field, given advances in computing, stellar spectroscopic surveys, and multi-messenger astronomy, as well as new facilities such as FRIB and the N=126 Factory. I’m looking forward to our community developing the vision to take advantage of these and other key recent advances as part of the Long-Range Plan for nuclear science.

https://physics.nd.edu/people/rebecca-surman/

I am a theoretical nuclear physicist. I like running, painting, photography, fixing things, some gardening, traveling, and electronic music. I work on describing all aspects of heavy ion collisions to learn about the properties of matter, and am also moving toward studying collisions of electrons with nuclei, which can for example provide detailed insight into how gluons arrange and interact inside nuclei. I love research because I just like to figure stuff out and learn new things - doing research is great, because you can figure things out that nobody else has understood before. I am a convener of the QCD Town Hall and White Paper, which provides community input to the Long Range Plan, and I am also on the LRP writing committee.

https://www.bnl.gov/staff/bschenke

I am a Chinese American Physicist at the University of Virginia and a mother of three. I like running, swimming, painting, gardening, and trying new things. I used to play volleyball in college. I don't like singing. I do Experimental Nuclear and Particle Physics with a focus on Electron Scattering. I like that all the number crunching and figure making have a higher meaning behind. Long Range Plan to me is a field guide for research in nuclear physics/science, new edition available every 7 years.

https://www.phys.virginia.edu/People/personal.asp?UID=xz5y

I am a medium energy experimentalist (otherwise known these days as cold QCD) and I am also the Dean of the College of Sciences at ODU. I do experiments related to understanding the structure of the nucleon (unpolarized as well as polarized), at Jefferson Lab. This type of research takes a long time, but I love it because the questions about the nature of matter are interesting and working with students and colleagues is a lot of fun. The Long-Range Plan process is very important for the community to consider priorities and make the case that this research is important. 

https://www.odu.edu/directory/people/g/gdodge

Season 2 Episode 12

I am an American theoretical particle physicist of Indian origin, and I also enjoy hiking, travel, and meditation. I study theories of the origin of electroweak symmetry breaking and flavor physics, and their possible signatures at high-energy colliders. I love using mathematical tools and models to understand and make predictions about the physical world around us. I serve as DPF Chair Elect and on the Snowmass Steering Committee.

https://rschivukula.physics.ucsd.edu

"I am a high energy experimental physicist, searching for new fundamental particles using the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. My work is split between data analysis, where I focus on the application of novel machine learning methods such as anomaly detection to enhance our discovery potential, and detector development, namely upgrading the readout electronics for the liquid argon calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment. This variety means that in a single work day I can go from working hands-on with engineers on a printed circuit board setup, to testing training algorithm configurations, and end with a hundred-person meeting, and I am always energized by the fast pace gear shifts! This Snowmass process will bring together experts across these disparate activities and prepare recommendations on the future course of the field, and my role is to facilitate the participation of early career physicists in the conversation. Outside of physics, I enjoy mixed martial arts, skiing, and struggling to learn French." 

Season 2 Episode 10

Professor Soares-Santos’ research aims to uncover the nature of the accelerated expansion of the cosmos. Her team detected the first neutron star collision ever observed, a discovery heralded as the Science breakthrough of the year 2017. She was awarded the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship in 2019 and the Cottrell Scholar Award in 2021. Her research has been featured in major media outlets worldwide including the PBS TV series Nova Wonders. Previously, Professor Soares-Santos was the Landsman Career Development Chair & Assistant Professor of Physics at Brandeis University. She was also an Associate Scientist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.  

Season 2 Episode 9

I am a theoretical particle physicist, specializing in collider phenomenology, a theoretical branch that builds the bridge between theory and experimental observations. To explore new physics beyond the Standard Model, I formulate theoretical models and predict observables at colliders as well as at low energy experiments. The topics I have been interested in include Higgs boson physics, searching for dark matter, examining neutrino mass generation models. I closely collaborate with my colleagues in theory and experiments. Since 2019, I have been involved in organizing the community planning exercise, a.k.a. "Snowmass 2021", led by APS DPF. The particle physics  community comes together to identify fundamental questions in the field and the opportunities to address.  The Snowmass exercise is very important for our field in the next decay and beyond. The final community meeting will take place in July 17-26, 2022, at the University of Washington-Seattle.  

https://www.physicsandastronomy.pitt.edu/people/tao-han

Season 2 Episode 8

I am a Black physicist, originally from Togo. I enjoy playing Djembe and swimming. I do research on the ATLAS experiment searching for dark sector states beyond the standard model of particle physics. I love working with people, learning from them and getting my ideas challenged. Through Snowmass, I've met and worked many new people; that won't have been possible otherwise.

Season 2 Episode 7

I am an Asian-Indian American Physicist, who traveled from Gorakhpur, UP, India and finally settled in Providence, RI USA, with my German husband and two sons. I am passionate about cooking and organizing events which meld scientific concepts with arts and music. My research focuses on investigating the early universe moments after the Big Bang created in small and large particle colliders, by building  innovative scientific instruments (detectors) to explore and find  fundamental particles and their interactions, and through these experiments unravel mysteries such as the origin of matter, the types of matter in the universe and many more. I love my research, as it gives me a purpose, and gives me an  opportunity to forge an inclusive partnership with a diverse set of  researchers who help me connect with the  age-old quest of humankind to  understand where we come from, why we are here, and eventually visualize  the building blocks of our home, the universe! I am humbled to have been chosen as one of the leaders of the Energy  Frontier group of the broader Snowmass study to help formulate a  community wide vision to explore the TeV energy scale and beyond with  future collider options, which will define the landscape of experimental  opportunities over multiple decades [and late into this century].

https://vivo.brown.edu/display/mnarain

Season 2 Episode 6  

I am a Romanian-born German-Swiss astroparticle physicist and I also enjoy reading poetry, hiking and kayaking on Swiss lakes. My research is focused on the direct detection of particle dark matter with xenon time projection chambers and on the search for neutrinoless double beta decay with enriched germanium crystals operated in liquid argon. I love the fact that these rare-event searches pose formidable challenges to our detector technologies, requiring new detector prototypes that we must develop and test in the lab. I also enjoy working with many enthusiastic researches in our international  experimental collaborations. To me Snowmass is a very important grass-roots process in particle and  astroparticle physics, not only relevant for USA, but with international relevance and implications. I am also excited to be one of the  conveners for the Underground Facilities Frontier.  

Season 2 Episode 5  

I am a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory physicist, and I also enjoy running and squirrel watching. I develop and deploy computational techniques to explore the fundamental and emergent properties of the strong force. Machine learning and other computational techniques build bridges between areas of physics and beyond. As a co-convener for the Computational Frontier at Snowmass, I'm excited  to see Machine Learning and Quantum Computing emerge as themes in this year's Snowmass!  

Season 2 Episode 4  

I'm particle physicist who was born in the UK, grew up in Canada and now lives in Durham, North Carolina; I also enjoy fossils, hiking, and sitting on my porch. I study neutrinos, and work on several  experiments--- COHERENT at the Spallation Neutron Source, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and Super-Kamiokande-- to look for physics beyond the standard model and to understand astrophysical  objects.  I love how neutrinos connect broadly to different areas—particle physics, astrophysics and nuclear physics -- and how they  have brought surprising insights over the decades. I'm excited to be a co-convener of the Snowmass Neutrino Frontier, to explore the many future opportunities for fundamental physics with neutrino experiments.  

Season 2 Episode 3  

I am an experimental collider physicist, who specializes on detector instrumentation, and I also love traveling, reading, movies, jigsaw puzzles, listening to live music and learning to play the piano. In the past I have been involved in the Higgs boson discovery, but now I specialize on designing and building silicon trackers and on  coordinating generic detector R&D for the High Energy Physics community. I love my research, because it requires a lot of creativity, allows me  to learn something new every day, and leads me to work with a very diverse group of people, who are all extremely good at what they are doing. Snowmass turned out to be a lot of work at a very challenging time during the pandemic, but I feel it is important to help define and shape  the future of our field using my expertise in detector instrumentation.  

Season 2 Episode 2  

I am a particle physicist at Wayne State University. I also like art. My research is on application of effective field theories to particle physics phenomenology. I love my research because I get to understand why the Universe is the way it is.  

Snowmass is an important exercise that will shape the vision for the future of particle physics in the US.  

Season 2 Episode 1

I am an experimental particle physicist, and when I'm not doing that I'm trying to teach myself to take pictures and cook. My research is focused on searching for Hidden Sector extensions to the Standard Model, mostly by looking for evidence of long-lived massive particles. I love the opportunity that physics gives me to explore the internal  workings of the world around me. I also have really enjoyed working on  the computing aspects of the field - bringing more modern tools into our searches for new physics.

https://phys.washington.edu/people/gordon-watts  
Snowmass is a ~decadal study of the state of particle physics in the USA: the challenges it faces, and the direction its R&D should take. It is a wonderfully grass-roots effort organized by the DPF whose goal is to find some consensus amongst the 1000's of US physicists for particle physics' next 10 years.

Season 1 Episode 10

I am a Japanese physicist at Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics. I also love cats. Most of my papers so far are on theoretical side of high energy physics but I am recently working on hep-lat x quantum computation stuff. Regarding the hep-lat x quantum computation stuff, I love it because we have a chance to explore non-perturbative aspects of real time dynamics in quantum field theory. During COVID, I learned how to roast coffee beans by myself.  

https://www2.yukawa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~masazumi.honda/index.html  

Season 1 Episode 9

I am a compute performance developer technology engineer at NVIDIA. I also run frequently, focusing on training for marathons and ultramarathons. I perform in-depth analysis and optimization of software for both lattice QCD and molecular dynamics. I love the work that I do because I still get to be involved with the lattice research community and develop new collaborations with researchers involved in computational chemistry even though I've formally transitioned to industry. During COVID I couldn't go to my favorite cafes anymore, so I learned how to make pour-over coffee and have kept up the habit nearly every morning, ever-tuning my process for different coffee beans and roasts.  

Season 1 Episode 8

Season 1 Episode 7

"I am a theoretical nuclear/high energy physicist originally from Italy. I am interested in strongly interacting matter under extreme conditions of temperature and density. I use numerical simulations to solve Quantum Chromodynamics, the fundamental theory of strong interactions, and I compare my results to the experimental data from the Large Hadron Collider (CERN). In my free time I like playing the cello, working out, reading and baking. During the pandemic I had to give up another passion of mine: traveling. I hope I can start again soon!"  

Season 1 Episode 6

"I am an Irish theoretical particle physicist interested in the properties of hadrons at zero and finite temperatures. I use numerical simulation, in a framework called Lattice QCD, to calculate the masses and widths of hadrons especially those containing charm and bottom quarks and to study their temperature dependence. This helps us to understand the nature of the strong nuclear force, one of the fundamental forces in nature. During covid while we were restricted to a 5km radius and travelling for work completely stopped I took up sea swimming and so far, I've kept it up throughout the year!"

Season 1 Episode 5

Dr. Sasa Prelovsek is an associate professor at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Her hobbies include making furniture, playing piano, sewing her own clothes, running and hiking among others. She calculates masses and decay times for various conventional and exotic particles made out of quarks using ab-initio lattice QCD. This has exciting implications for ongoing experiments, which are discovering a new interesting exotic hadron every few months. During Covid, she enjoyed a walk to a nearby hill every afternoon, accompanied by her husband and at least one of three kids.  

Season 1 Episode 4

Dr. Zohreh Davoudi is an assistant professor at University of Maryland. She is the "Quantum Simulation" Instructor for the INT Summer School on Problem Solving in Lattice QCD.  

"I am a theoretical physicist originally from Iran. In my free time, I enjoy reading political/social/cultural/medical commentaries. I also love fashion, design, and architecture. My research involves applying a range of theoretical and computational tools, from effective field theories and lattice QCD to classical and quantum computing to study the core of matter from the underlying Standard Model. I love my research since my theoretical-minded view of fundamental physics got expanded and deepened once I started figuring out how to "compute" nature from first principles — classically and quantum-mechanically! A year into the pandemic, I calculated that I gained 28 working days (= 8 hrs each) and reduced my carbon footprint by more than 3000 lbs by not having to commute to work!"  

Season 1 Episode 3

Dr. Meifeng Lin is computational scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory. She is the "High Performance Computing" Instructor for the INT Summer School on Problem Solving in Lattice QCD.  

"I am a computational scientist with a background in lattice QCD. I am also learning to be a gardener in my spare time. My research focuses on the efficient utilization of the world's fastest supercomputers. I love my research as I get to work with scientists from different domains, and learn a lot of cool science. I have been working from home since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although I miss seeing my friends and colleagues, I have enjoyed spending more time at home with my six-year-old and my cat."  

Season 1 Episode 2

Prof. Raúl Briceño (he/him) is an Assistant Professor at Old Dominion University and a Joint Theory staff member at Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. He is the "Hadron Spectroscopy and Resonance" Instructor for the INT Summer School on Problem Solving in Lattice QCD.  

Season 1 Episode 1

Prof. Christopher Aubin (he/him/his) is an Associate Professor of Physics at Fordham University. He is the "Cooking in LQCD — Flavor physics on the lattice" Instructor for the INT Summer School on Problem Solving in Lattice QCD. 

"I am a gay physicist who loves (rescue) dogs and boardgames. A lot of my work is focused on analyzing systematic errors associated with lattice calculations as well as getting undergraduates involved in this research. I enjoy the ability to add to the body of knowledge in the world to assist even in the smallest way to understanding this universe just a little bit more. By teaching virtually I was able to spend six weeks with my family during the spring (the peak of the outbreak in NYC) during a difficult time when otherwise I couldn't have done so — while still not a great time, it was better because of COVID."