Home Institution: Skidmore College
Research Project: Precision Muon Physics
UW Mentor(s): Peter Kammel

Q: What are your physics/science interests?
I'm involved in Astrophysics research at my school, Skidmore College. I really enjoy learning about astronomy and cosmology. I think most people have a natural curiosity about the fate of humanity, our solar system, and the universe. Knowing what's going on in space is really important, and its something I'll always be interested in.

Q: What are your other interests?
I love horses and the mountains. I am on the Equestrian Team at Skidmore College, and I grew up ski racing at White Pass in Washington.

Q: What would you like to do after college?
I want to attend medical school and become a doctor. I hope the combination of my background in Physics and Biochemistry will give me a unique way of looking at problems in order to help patients. I also hope one day to pursue biomedical engineering. I think after practicing medicine I will have an idea of what tools might aid doctors' performance and efficiency, and I think it would be pretty cool to use my education in Physics to develop them. I recognize that's a little ambitious, but who says you can't do everything!

Q: Tell us one strange but interesting fact about yourself.
I really, really like TacoTime. They're all over Washington. Perks of participating in an REU in Seattle is that you don't have to settle for TacoBell!

Q: What first sparked your interest in Physics?
It's kind of cliché, but just looking at the stars. I grew up in Seattle traveling to Sun Valley, Idaho. At night the sky is always so clear that you can see so many more stars than compared to being in a big cloudy city. I used to count the satellites that crossed the sky. I always wondered if I was seeing the International Space Station. In kindergarten I definitely wanted to be an astronaut.

Q: If you could have any pet what would it be?
I believe Nash is the first Physics REU dog at the UW! He's my german shepherd, and he follows me just about everywhere including from New York to Seattle this summer! He loves walking in the Arboretum across the floating trail and exploring campus, but I found he's afraid of the husky statue outside the HUB. I think Nash would get along better with the real Dubs....Go Dawgs!

Q: If you had a free month and unlimited funds, how would you spend your time?
I would take Nash for a walk on the moon. I'd definitely pay SpaceX to make a dog space suit. Anything is possible right?

Q: If you could get a grant to study anything what would it be?
I'd like to get involved with researching Tumor Paint at the Hutch with Dr. Olson. Tumor paint is an imaging agent that binds to cancerous cells, and lights them up. The hope is for it to be used to help surgeons visualize tumors while operating so they can remove all the cancer without cutting out healthy tissue. I'd like to investigate how semiconducting polymer dots, nanoparticles that are not all that different from quantum dots, could play a role in the tumor targeting applications that Tumor Paint is oriented around. This sort of project would definitely appeal to my passion for pursuing research involving both physics and medicine.