Past Colloquia | Department of Physics

Below is a list of talks from previous years’ Colloquia Series.

Spring, 2022

February 18th

Speaker: Dr. Tuan Nguyen, TCNJ Physics Department

Topic: From Electron to Higgs and Everything In Between

Abstract: 20th century physics was dominated by particles – their discoveries, their theories, and the machines built to discover them. In this talk, we will cover everything you ever wanted to know about this fantastic era: the birth of quantum mechanics, discovery of elementary particles, accelerators, bubble chambers, Feynman diagrams, quarks, the Standard Model, the Higgs boson, string theory, and much more – and all on one slide.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Science Complex P-117

March 1st

Speaker: Dr. Kathryn Weil, Purdue University

Topic: Stellar Fireworks: Tackling Observations of the Dynamic Night Sky in the Era of Big Data

Abstract: Over the next decade as the Legacy Survey for Space and Time (LSST) by Rubin Observatory begins operations the number of supernovae detected by large all-sky surveys will increase by over an order of magnitude. The supernova community is actively developing the cyber-infrastructure needed to tackle this large influx of data in order to process, prioritize and coordinate follow-up observations for maximal science gains. The Recommender Engine For Intelligent Transient Tracking (REFITT) is a data-driven AI system that ingests supernova light curve information in real-time, forecasts the supernova evolution, and recommends observations to observing agents to augment survey light curves at critical epochs. I will discuss how REFITT works to make such recommendations and how citizen scientists and professional observatories work together in the follow-up effort.

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Purdue University in the Time Domain Astrophysics Group. My research at Purdue University has focused on cyberinfrastructure development for the deluge of data from the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) by Rubin Observatory, coming in late 2023. My work has been focused on the coordination of these follow-up observations between various observing agents. I have worked with ground- (Magellan, MMT, SALT, SOAR, MDM Observatory, SAAO, LCO) and space- (HST, Chandra) based observatories totaling more than 170 nights of observing. I received my PhD from Dartmouth College in June 2020 specializing in observations of supernovae and supernova remnants. I did a pre-doctoral fellowship at the Harvard & Smithsonian | Center for Astrophysics and have a B.S. in Physics from Brandeis University. I will be starting a new position this summer at Northrop Grumman Corporation, as a Future Technical Leaders Fellow.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Science Complex P-117

April 5th

Speaker: TCNJ Physics Alumni Panel

Topic: Alumni Panel – TCNJ Physicists Paths to Jobs

Guest Panelists:

Kelly Bancroft (2016) – I am a Staff Scientist for SciTec, Inc, a rapidly growing remote sensing missile defense contractor. I develop algorithms and models that automatically detect, classify, and track a target in real time using OPIR (Overhead Persistent Infrared) data. This is my second position since graduating in 2016– my first was Research Assistant at the Institute for Defense Analyses, where I analyzed historical nuclear weapons testing data and developed validation sets for nuclear simulations. Before I graduated, I never expected to have a career in Defense, but am happy where I am and would encourage anyone to consider a wide array of industries when looking for jobs. Physics majors are valued everywhere, and you have more options than you think!

Lindsey Elmes (2005) Graduated from TCNJ in 2005 with a degree in Physics with a focus on secondary education. After graduating from TCNJ, I taught physical science and physics for five years w hile earning my Master’s in Science Education at The University of Central Florida (UCF). During my time in education, I served as director of the school’s Rocketry and SECME clubs. I then pursued a career as a physician. I graduated from medical school at Florida Atlantic University in 2015 and completed my residency at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center/Case Western Reserve University in 2018. I am board-certified in Emergency Medicine. I worked as an emergency physician at a community hospital for two years. Since June 2020, I have been employed by the Veterans Health Administration. I currently practice Telemedicine, addressing urgent care needs virtually for Veterans. I am also co-director of our medical group’s Teleurgent Care Elective for UCF medical students and am affiliate faculty at UCF College of
Medicine.

Rich Piccola (1993) – I am a Principal Systems Engineer, Group Leader and Project Leader at The MITRE Corporation. MITRE is a not-for-profit corporation that operates Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) for the Government. In this role I support the Department of Veterans Affairs helping them to acquire and deploy complex technology systems. I also assist with development, analysis and implementation of processes ranging from investment management, risk management, portfolio management, change management and more, either as a project leader, task leader or individual technical contributor. Previously at MITRE I performed analysis of computer networks, terrestrial and satellite communications systems in support of the US Army. Prior to working at MITRE I worked for a small defense contractor helping to develop a control system aboard a submarine for the US Navy. I graduated TCNJ (then TSC) with a bachelor’s degree in a Physics and a minor in Mathematics. I went on to earn a master’s degree in Physics at the University of Delaware, where my thesis focus was developing techniques to improve the accuracy of a differential scanning calorimeter by an order of magnitude to study phase transitions and other phenomena that were outside the native capabilities of that instrument. After starting work at MITRE, I also earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering (communications focus) from Walden University.

Kristen Pirrella (2017) – Graduated from TCNJ in 2017 with a degree in Physics and a minor in Arabic. I am currently the Lead Engineer for the Training Programs at In-Depth Engineering Corporation. In-Depth is a small business provider of combat and weapon systems, development, integration and test services, and waterfront support to the United States Department of Defense. In this role, I lead a team in the development of training products that support the U.S. Navy – focusing on the software development and deployment of solutions that improve operator proficiency on systems and concepts relating to both surface ships and submarines. Prior to this role, I worked as a government contractor for SRI International, where I was duty stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground, an Army base in Maryland, and worked as a threat analyst.

Brian Whitehead (2008) – Manufacturing Engineer for the Optics/Fiber Division of Thorlabs Inc. After graduating TCNJ in 2008 I started at Thorlabs as a Manufacturing Engineer focusing on process streamlining. I soon became the Optics Quality Manager and led a small group of inspectors and quality engineers internally and externally with both vendor and customer issues. After about 5 years I left quality and took a role as Manufacturing Engineer Manager and led a group of engineers looking toward process improvement, and automation. During this time, I also developed and released the “hollow optics” portion of our catalog offering. In the last 3 years I have moved back into a Manufacturing Engineering role, working on specific product lines, and growing the hollow optics offering.

Additional info on Thor Labs: TCNJ has really taken over Optics/Fiber at Thorlabs. My manager Doug Jenkins as well as his manager and Business Unit Leader Bill Donovan were both graduates of the program too. I think that alone shows how successful the program and the individuals who go through it can be.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: P-117

May 3rd

Speaker: Dr. Emily Fair, University of Colorado – Boulder

Topic: From particle physicist to aerospace software engineer: what todo when you accidentally select the wrong career path

Abstract: Choosing a career path is hard, and it’s even harder when you decide after graduate school that the path you chose wasn’t what you thought it would be. What do you do then? I will discuss my career path, starting with why I chose to go to graduate school for particle physics and what the day-to-day life of a particle physicist looks like,focusing on the research and software development aspects. I will then describe my reasons for wanting to shift career paths toward the aerospace industry, and provide a personal overview of the academia-to-industry transition.

Bio: Emily Fair is a recent Physics PhD graduate from the University of Colorado Boulder. She received her B.S. in Physics and her B.A. in French from Whitworth University in 2016, and promptly joined the particle physics research team at Texas A&M University for the first year of graduate school. She then transferred to the University of Colorado Boulder, continuing her particle physics research and collaboration with the CMS Experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. After defending in January, Emily decided a career change was in order, and is now in the last stages of the interview process with various aerospace companies.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Zoom virtual talk

Fall, 2021

September 17th

Speaker: TCNJ Physics Summer Research Students

Topic: Summer Research Experiences

Abstract:

Mary Mcmullan:

“Integrating SESAME in FLASH & Simulations of Supersonic Turbulence”

Abstract: This summer, I have been incredibly grateful to work alongside Professor Petros Tzeferacos and with a wonderful group of people working at the Flash Center at the University of Rochester. For my main project, I worked in collaboration with graduate student Pericles Farmakis. Our objective was to integrate the SESAME Equation of State Tabulated Database into the FLASH code. The FLASH code is a multi-physics high-performance simulation code developed by the Flash Center. FLASH solves extended systems of radiation magneto-hydrodynamics(MHD), applied in a number of different application domains, from astrophysics, to computational fluid dynamics, and to high energy density physics.

Dean Klunk:

“Do elementary schools ignore physics?”

Abstract: This summer, I did a MUSE research project here at TCNJ with Dr. Richards. We examined the elementary school curricula of 32 school districts and identified themes associated with physics vs. other science disciplines to measure the relative prevalence of physics.

John Mahoney:

“Temperature dependence of perovskite solar cells”

Abstract: I spent my summer doing an REU at The University of Oklahoma under Dr. Ian Sellers. Our research focused heavily on perovskite solar cells, where we observed various effects of how these photovoltaics behave across a range of temperatures from 4K to 300K.

Mario Gallardo:

“A Method to Evaluate Cumulative Dose on TSET Patients on Patient Finite-Element Models using Cherenkov Imaging”

Abstract: The program I participated in this summer is called SUPERS, which stands for Summer Undergraduate Program for Educating Radiation Scientists. This is open to mainly rising juniors and seniors. One of their specialties was medical physics, and I worked under that subdivision in the radiation oncology department. My project involved patient modeling and imaging for electron beam therapy treatment. I worked in the Dr. Tim Zhu lab at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Science Complex P-317

October 5th

Topic: Skyrmions and Biskyrmions in Magnetic Films

Speaker: Dr. Daniel Capic (Visiting Professor in the TCNJ Physics Department)

Abstract: Skyrmions have garnered significant attention in condensed matter systems in recent years.They were originally studied in the context of high-energy physics by Tony Skyrme as topologically non-trivial solutions that arose from the addition of a constrained term to the Lagrangian. Later, Belavin and Polyakov found that in ferromagnetic films, they appear as defects in the ferromagnetic order which otherwise prefers the alignment of all the spins in one direction. These defects are quasiparticles that are characterized by an integer topological charge. Since skyrmions can be as small as a few lattice spacings, are easy to create and manipulate, and can persist on long time scales, they have been looked to for their use in computing applications. This talk will describe what a skyrmion is and the meaning of “topological charge”, the properties of skyrmions and related topologically non-trivially quasiparticles, and other findings I published in the course of completing my PhD.

Bio: Dr. Capic is from Staten Island, NY and went to Stony Brook university for undergrad, which is part of the state university of New York (SUNY) system where he double majored in physics and math. He did his PhD at the CUNY Graduate Center (city university of New York). He studies theoretical condensed matter. He currently studies skyrmions, which are objects with a non-trivial topology that can appear in magnetic systems.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Science Complex P-317

October 15th

Topic: Alumni Panel on Graduate School

Speakers: TCNJ Physics Alumni

Abstract: This colloquium will feature a panel of TCNJ physics alumni at different stages of completing a graduate degree. We will be joined by Joseph Avenoso (2016; optics), Brianna Santangelo (2017; PER), Mitchell Revalski (2014; astrophysics), Terance Schuh (2019; geosciences), and Samantha Staskiewicz (2019, climate science).

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Science Complex P-317

November 19th

Topic: Identification of urban localities with land subsidence due to groundwater extraction in Mexico by using InSAR-SBAS

Speaker: Enrique Fernandez, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico

Abstract: Land subsidence due to groundwater extraction is a process that has increased its influence due to the development of cities and agricultural areas around the world. In this context, Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has been successfully used for the characterization of the magnitude and spatial distribution of land subsidence. In this presentation, we will show the latest effort to identify urban areas undergoing land subsidence due to groundwater extraction in Mexico. We used 4,611 scenes from ESA’s Sentinel 1 A/B SAR sensors acquired from descending orbits from September 2018 through October 2019. This dataset was processed at UNAM’s Mitztli supercomputer using ISCE and MintPy software. The quality of the resulting velocity maps is assessed through a large-scale comparison with observations from 103 GPS throughout Mexico. Our results show that at least 13% of the total population of Mexico live in urban areas with subsidence velocities of 2.5 cm/year or greater, in more than 750 localities.

Enrique Fernandez-Torres obtained his BSc in Geology at the University of Los Andes, Venezuela in 2013 and a Master in Earth Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 2019 and is currently a Ph.D. student in Earth Sciences at UNAM. His research focuses on the application of InSAR and GIS techniques for the study of land subsidence associated with groundwater extraction in urban areas.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Science Complex P-317

December 7th

Topic: Bringing a Neutron Star Down to Earth

Speaker: Professor Jim Napolitano, Temple University

Abstract: Neutron stars are truly out of this world. First theorized in the 1930’s, it wasn’t until 1967, when graduate student Jocelyn Bell discovered them through their pulsating radio signals, that we knew they existed. With masses roughly equal to that of the Sun, but with radii of only several kilometers, they have enormous densities, comparable to that of the atomic nucleus. With the development of precision astronomy across the electromagnetic spectrum, and now through gravitational radiation, we are gaining more and more observational data. Nevertheless, there are still many mysteries surrounding the structure and behavior of these fascinating objects.
This talk will discuss what we now know about neutron stars, and also what we don’t know. In particular, we will talk about the Equation of State of neutron matter, and how the precision nuclear physics experiments PREX and CREX at Jefferson Lab are aiming to inform state-of-the-art calculations. Details of these experiments and their results will be presented, and their implications will be discussed.

Bio: I am Professor of Physics at Temple University, having joined the faculty here in January 2014, and served as Department Chair from 2015 through Summer 2021. Prior to Temple, I was on the faculty at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for 20 years. After getting my PhD at Stanford University in 1982, I worked at Argonne National Laboratory and CEBAF (now Jefferson Laboratory) before joining RPI. My research is in experimental nuclear and high energy physics, specifically in neutrino oscillations, hadron spectroscopy, and parity violating electron scattering. I have a keen interest in physics education, love the classroom experience and working closely with students, and have published several textbooks.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Science Complex P-317

Spring, 2021

February 19th

Speaker: Adam Riegel, Hofstra University

Topic: Health Physics at Chernobyl

Abstract: Dr. Riegel will introduce physical concepts of radiation and the biological effects radiation has on the
human body through the lens of last year’s HBO miniseries “Chernobyl.” Topics will include differences in
alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, the units of radiation exposure and dose, and the illnesses caused by
significant acute radiation exposure such as those seen in the tragic nuclear incident at Chernobyl and
represented in the recent miniseries. Dr. Riegel will also briefly introduce the field of medical physics and
discuss opportunities in the MS in Medical Physics program at Hofstra University.
Dr. Adam Riegel obtained his PhD in medical physics in 2010 from the Graduate School of Biomedical
Sciences from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Since that time,
Dr. Riegel has been a therapeutic medical physicist in the Department of Radiation Medicine at Northwell
Health. Dr. Riegel received board certification in 2013 and is currently the associate chief physicist at
Northwell. Dr. Riegel holds the rank of Adjunct Associate Professor in the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences, Associate Professor in the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, and is the
director of the medical physics graduate program at Hofstra University. Dr. Riegel is an active researcher
with numerous publications and is a participant in the regional and national medical physics community,
serving as a reviewer for several physics and radiation oncology journals and as a member of several
scientific and professional committees.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Zoom (email physics@tcnj.edu for link)

March 2nd

Topic: Measuring and enhancing quantitative reasoning in physics instruction

Speaker: Dr. Suzanne White Brahmia (University of Washington)

Abstract: Being able to identify and understand quantitative situations is an expected outcome of taking a physics course. In the current crises in which we are mired, it is also essential to be an informed global citizen. Although quantitative procedural competency is a prerequisite for most introductory physics courses, spontaneous and productive mathematical reasoning across physics contexts is a desirable learning outcome of these courses for all students, regardless of major, and ideally it develops there. Physics Quantitative Literacy (PQL) is a set of interconnected skills and habits of mind that support quantitative reasoning about the physical world. In spite of being an important objective of physics instruction, there does not yet exist a validated instrument for assessing to what extent physics courses actually develop PQL. In this talk I will present the PIQL, Physics Inventory of Quantitative Literacy, which is in its final stages of instrument validation at the UW in a multi-institution collaboration. PIQL targets introductory physics – where the “math world” and “physical world” meet – assessing students’ proportional reasoning, covariational reasoning, and reasoning with signed quantities as they are used in physics. Unlike multiple-choice concept inventories, which assess conceptual mastery of specific physics topics, PIQL is a multiple-choice reasoning inventory that can provide snapshots of student reasoning that is continuously developing. Answer choices are constructed based on research-validated natures of expert mathematical reasoning in physics contexts. I will describe how this work can help lead both to improved instruction that better meets the objective of developing physics quantitative literacy, and, through analytical methods of student responses, to better understanding the novice state and the novice-expert transition. This work is support by the National Science Foundation DUE-IUSE # 1832836, # 1832880, and # 1833050.
Preprint of paper is posted here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.10865

Bio: Dr. Suzanne Brahmia obtained a PhD in Physics from Rutgers University in 2014. She is now an assistant professor in the department of physics at the University of Washington. Her primary research area is mathematization in physics: Novice-to-expert transition, Quantification, Proportional Reasoning, Negativity, Symbolizing, Covariational reasoning, Inventing with Contrasting Cases. She is also currently exploring the impacts of Assessable Learning Objectives (ALOs) on teaching and learning: Standardizing ALOs across the introductory curriculum, Impact of ALOs on student learning and on faculty practices.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Zoom (email physics@tcnj.edu for link)

March 19th

Topic: Research Opportunities at TCNJ

Speakers: TCNJ Physics Department Faculty

Abstract: Our physics department is rich with research opportunities and in this colloquium, we will introduce you to a variety of them. Dr. McGee will describe research opportunities within the new structure of the physics capstone experience as well as exciting new international scholarships for research and academic credit. Dr. Graham and Dr. Lanz will then discuss opportunities this summer and this fall to undertake research in geophysics and astrophysics.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Zoom (email physics@tcnj.edu for link)

April 6th & April 23rd

Speaker: Alumni Panels

Topic: These colloquia will feature a panel of TCNJ physics alumni at different stages of their careers in different fields. On April 6th, we will be joined by Bill Donovan (2008), Nicholas Freschi (2016), Jason Malatesta (2002), Shannon Springstead (2020), Joseph Stassi (2020), and Jarod Talbot (2008). On April 23rd, we will be joined by Geena Elghossain (2019), Kyle Gilroy (2011), Noelle Gothardt (2011), Michelle Reno (2000), and Julian Starr (2012). View the biosketches of each panelist by clicking here.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Zoom (e-mail physics@tcnj.edu for link)

May 4th

Topic: Seismicity Induced by Hydraulic Fracturing: Eagle Ford Shale Play, South Texas

Speaker: Dr. Shannon Fasola (Miami University, Ohio)

Abstract: As the advancements in unconventional drilling for oil and gas have become more commonplace, the potential for seismicity induced by wastewater disposal (WD) and hydraulic fracturing (HF) has become an increasingly important issue. Understanding the mechanisms behind what induces seismicity is important for developing proper practices and policies that will help reduce the seismic hazard. South Texas is an area of interest for studying induced seismicity, because it has a history of active oil and gas production, HF, WD, and seismicity; some of which occurs within or near areas of pervasive faulting. Seismicity in the Eagle Ford oil and gas field of south Texas grew to 33 times higher than previous years in 2018. We investigated how HF contributed to seismicity since 2014 by comparing times and locations of HF with a catalog of seismicity extended through seismogram similarity detection (template matching). Over 200 HF wells in Karnes, Atascosa, and Gonzales counties had seismicity nearby during operation with ~90 earthquakes having magnitudes ≥ 2.0, indicating seismicity from HF is more common in this area than previously thought. We found that HF strategy affects the probability of earthquakes. Seismicity was twice as likely when operators inject into multiple nearby wells simultaneously compared to when they inject into multiple wells one at a time. The simultaneous strategy was three times more likely to produce seismicity compared to a single well strategy. Of the ~2,400 HF‐induced earthquakes we identified, a magnitude 4.0 is one of the largest reported in the United States, and it occurred ~10 km from the largest (magnitude 4.8) earthquake in south Texas, thought to be due to fluid extraction in 2011. This study demonstrates that faults in this area are capable of producing felt and potentially damaging earthquakes due to ongoing HF.

Since 2018, several seismic recording stations have been added in the area revealing a new region of seismicity in Live Oak county. We sought to perform a deeper exploration of how HF has contributed to recent seismicity using template matching and repeating signal detection (RSD), which employs machine learning to search for earthquakes different from the template catalog. RSD identified new bursts of seismicity with a shorter S-P time (~2 sec) than the previous catalog (> 4 sec). We found HF stimulations close to the station at the times when those short S-P events occurred. The short S-P events have smaller magnitudes (M_L < 2.0), consistent with the idea that HF-induced seismicity in the Eagle Ford is likely more pervasive than previously reported, but detection is limited by the density of seismic stations. RSD and template matching identified 1,600 earthquakes correlated with HF from January 2019 to February 2020. We confirmed that newly detected HF-induced seismicity in Live Oak county did not occur until January 2019. Despite similar cumulative volume prior to 2019, the onset of seismicity did not occur until HF injection exceeded 2 million barrels per month over this area, supporting the notion that injection flux is a stronger influence on the occurrence of seismicity than cumulative volume.

Bio: Shannon Fasola is an observational seismologist with a diverse area of interest and experience in seismology with an interest in contributing to the overall understanding of seismic and aseismic slip in subduction zones and human-induced seismicity. She received her bachelors in geology from St. Norbert College in Wisconsin in 2014 and came to Miami University in Ohio shortly after to pursue a graduate degree studying geophysics and seismology. She received her master’s in 2016 where her thesis utilized seismicity, nonvolcanic tremor, and slow slip to analyze the geometry of the subducting plate in Oaxaca, Mexico. Shannon enjoyed Miami so much she decided to stay on for a PhD. She defended her dissertation last fall which investigated earthquake swarms for clues of their driving mechanisms. Today her talk will focus on some of her work from her dissertation related to human induced seismicity in Texas.

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: Zoom (email physics@tcnj.edu for link)

Spring, 2018

April 20th

Topic: Working as a Radiation Physicist: from Radioactive Seed Implantation for Cancer Treatment to the Development of Radon Exposure Limits for Homeowner Safety

Time: 12:30 PM

Location: SCP 317

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