The Marshall University Society of Physics Students and the American Institute of Physics will present the “Faces of Physics Virtual Speaker Series,” beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, with Dr. Natalia Lewandowska of Haverford College. She will speak on “The Case of the Perfect Clocks in the Sky,” and her presentation is free and open to all. It will be followed by a question and answer session.
The series will continue with a presentation in December, as well as additional presentations in the spring semester, with topics focusing on the search for life in space, planets around other stars, the quest to understand and cure cancer, mysterious outer space clocks called pulsars and more. Virtual audience members will get a chance to pose questions to the scientists, who are asking big questions and making exciting discoveries.
Each month, a guest speaker will give a 30-minute talk on their current research, followed by a Q&A session with attendees.
“The goal of the event is to highlight the work of researchers from underrepresented groups to promote inclusion and inspire the next generation of scientists to see a place for themselves in the exciting field of physics,” said Marshall student Ellie White, a physics major and SPS vice president, who helped organize the series.
The talks will be held virtually through YouTube Live and are free and open to the public, and will be appropriate for all ages. To stay up to date on information pertaining to the event, sign up for the mailing list at https://www.marshall.edu/physics/society-physics-students/ or follow Marshall University Physics on Facebook (@MUPhysicsDept).
The currently scheduled presentations are as follows, with more coming up during the spring semester:
- 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, Dr. Natalia Lewandowska of Haverford College, “The Case of the Perfect Clocks in the Sky.”
- 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1 — Dr. Karen Perez of Columbia University, “On the Breakthrough Listen Search for Intelligent Life Near the Galactic Center.”
- 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16 — Dr. Abel Mendez of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, “Habitable Worlds”
- More to be announced.
The series is sponsored by the Marshall University Society of Physics Students and the American Institute of Physics. The organizers are SPS President Jackie Sizemore, SPS Vice President Ellie White and SPS Advisor Dr. Sean P. McBride, assistant professor of physics at Marshall.