Research Summary
I am interested in using various forms of spectroscopy to study the properties of materials for use in LED and photovoltaic applications.
Education
- Ph.D., Physics, Experimental Condensed Matter, University of Utah. Project: Study of Charge Transport Processes in Organic and Inorganic Semiconductor Devices using Noise and Immittance Spectroscopy
Biography
I am an Assistant Lecture Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. My work revolves around gaining an understanding of the electrical transport properties of materials, such as organic semiconductors. These materials are of extreme interest in creating the next generation of electronic displays, lighting, photovoltaic cells, and printable, flexible circuits. To probe these materials, I use a technique known as noise spectroscopy in which I use the seemingly random fluctuations in device current to map onto the physical processes that generate those fluctuations. I am also interested in superconductivity in 1-dimensional nanowire structures, a key line of research necessary for applications such as ultra-sensitive photon detectors and quantum computing.
I am very interested in teaching science and scientific outreach. Currently, I am responsible for developing and facilitating the calculus and non-calculus based introductory physics series, as well as the non-calculus-based physics labs, for the Department of Physics and Astronomy. I am also heavily involved in the training of our department's teaching assistants as well as in the overall teaching excellence of physics instruction.
I am a STEM Ambassador for the University of Utah through a project begun by Dr. Nalini Nadkarni in the Department of Biology. I am also a Science Communication Fellow at the Natural History Museum of Utah. In both programs, I worked to develop effective techniques to communicate science to the public. I am also a 2018 AAAS Mass Media Fellow, a program from the American Association for the Advancement of Science designed to put scientists into the media to communicate science. Over the summer of 2018, I worked as a science correspondent at the Idaho Statesman newspaper in Boise where I reported on all sorts of interesting scientific topics. I participate in the INSPIRE program, wherein scientists go into local jails and prisons to lecture on science to the incarcerated to further their understanding of the world and give them a connection to it.