UWL PhysicsNOW

Winter 2016

Greetings from the second floor ofCowley Hall! I’ve recently enjoyedtalking with all of our majors duringadvising sessions. Hearing theirstories of class triumphs andchallenges, and helping them findtheir paths to degrees (and beyond)is one of themost rewarding parts ofmy position as Chair of the PhysicsDepartment. Another privilege Ihave is to update you on several ofthe interesting activities that havehappened in and around theDepartment. We are very excitedthat the American Institute ofPhysics has ranked us NUMBER

ONE in the nation for producingbachelor-level physics majorsamong BS-only institutions. Wecontinue to have outstandingincoming freshmanclasses, andourupper-level majors remain engagedmentors to the new students. OurSociety of Physics Students chapterwas also recognized as anOutstanding Chapter for the2013/2014 academic year. We arelooking forward to hosting anotherNobel laureate in Physics in the fallof 2016, Dr. Shuji Nakamura (the2014 Nobel Laureate), and we hopeyou get a chance to join us.

As always, please let theDepartment know of youraccomplishments as you progressin your career. If you are going to bein the La Crosse area, let us know ifyou would be willing to present aseminar on your work and/or job/internship opportunities that youknow of.

Best wishes,

Sudha

Dear Alumni, Students, and Friends:

The new student center is being constructed in the parking lot east of Wimberly Hall. This picturewas taken from the Cowley Hall rooftop.

Faculty Highlight

Dr. Shelly R. Lesher

I joined the UWL PhysicsDepartment as an AssistantProfessor in the fall of 2009 andspecialize in experimental nuclearphysics. My interest in nuclearphysics stems from anundergraduate research project.

I am originally from northern Indianaand attended Indiana UniversitySouth Bend. Since the physicsdepartment was small and did notoffer many research options, I wassent across town to the University ofNotre Dame and their large nuclearphysics laboratory for a researchproject. It was here that I foundcollaborative research, problemswithout solutions, and what it meantto lose yourself in a project. I earneda Ph.D. at the University of Kentuckyin 2004. My first postdoctoralexperience was at the Katholieke

Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium.There I worked on discovering newisotopes (nuclei that have the samenumber of protons but differentnumber of neutrons) and figuring outthe shape of their ground statesusing the facilities available inEurope including GSI in Darmstadt,Germany, and CERN in Geneva,Switzerland. Upon returning to theStates I spent two years at LawrenceLivermore National Laboratory inCalifornia experimentally measuringfission cross sections using new andnovel approaches.

My research at UWL focuses on thebasic structure of the nucleus,primarily the shape and motion ofisotopes in the rare-earth region ofthe periodic table. To probe insidethenucleus, particleacceleratorsarerequired. At accelerator facilities

around the world, undergraduatestudents and I set up detectors andrunexperimentswith collaborators tomeasure the interactions betweenthe nucleus and the outgoingparticles. It is in observing thesespecific interactions that we can startunraveling the behavior of thenuclides of interest.

This research work helps usunderstand the nucleus, which aidsin understanding practicalapplications such as how to producenew isotopes for medical treatmentsand imaging. From PET scans tocancer treatments, nuclear physicsplays a large part in modern medicaltreatments.

I enjoy teaching at UWL, especiallythe three nuclear related courses inthe Physics Department: Intro-duction to Nuclear Science;Radiation Physics; and GoingNuclear: Navigating Global NuclearIssues. Going Nuclear is a newlydeveloped course that explores howthe development of nuclearweapons, and the decision to usethem have affected the world.

UWL student Marcus Lowe (left) adjusting the distance of adetector with postdoc Tim Ross during an experiment at theUniversity of Kentucky in March 2014.

Since the fallof 2000, theU W LDistinguishedLecture Seriesin Physics(DLS) is co-sponsored byg e n e r o u s

funding from donors, the UWLFoundation, Inc., the Department ofPhysics, and the College of Scienceand Health. The purpose of theseries is to bring to La Crosse aworld-renowned physicist whosesignificant accomplishments andcommunication skills can inspire andenrich the careers of students,faculty, and the general public. InSeptember, Dr. David Gross servedas the 16th Distinguished LectureSeries speaker. Dr. Gross is on thefaculty of the University of California,Santa Barbara, and is a formerdirector of the Kavli Institute forTheoretical Physics at UCSB. Hereceived his one-third share of the

2004 Nobel Prize in Physics, alongwithhis former studentFrankWilczekand H. David Politzer, for theirillumination of “asymptotic freedom”–an ideacentral tounderstanding thebehavior of the quarks that composetheprotons andneutrons that, in turn,

form atoms (and us!). Dr. Gross’public lecture was entitled, “TheFrontiersofFundamentalPhysics”. Itwas an enormously entertaining talk

that challenged the audiencewith thenext set of questions physicists aretackling in their quest to fullyunderstandmatter, energy, and time.For the more physics-minded, Dr.Gross discussed “The EnduringLegacy of Albert Einstein” in our

physics seminar. You can viewrecordings of these talks by visitingthe DLS Past Speakers website.

As always, the Physics Departmentwebpage is thehub for informationonupcoming DLS speakers – make aplan to come enjoy the talks with us!The 2016 speaker will be Dr. ShujiNakamura, also from UC SantaBarbara. Dr. Nakamura was co-awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize inPhysics for pioneering work insemiconductor physics – namely, theinvention of efficient blue LED. Joinus for what is sure to be anotherwonderful set of presentations. If youwould like to help support theDistinguished Lecture Series inPhysics, please contact Sudha.

Distinguished Lecture Series in Physics

MirandaElkins presented a poster,"The Development of ZnO-basedElectro-Absorption Modulators" atthe 2015 National Conference onUndergraduate Research (NCUR)in Cheney, Washington, and at theUWL Celebration of StudentResearch and Creativity in April2015.Bryan Nestingen presented aposter, "ZnO-Based Electro-Absorption Modulators" at theWisconsin Science and TechnologySymposium" in River Falls,Wisconsin in July 2015. This workwas supported by a WisconsinSpace Grant ConsortiumUndergraduate Research Fellow-ship.Madeline Lambert spent thesummer at the Fermi NationalAccelerator Laboratory (Fermilab)constructing a test system todetermine the necessary amount of

electrostatic discharge protectionfor circuits in the mu2e (muon toelectron) experiment as part of theSIST (Student Internships inScience and Technology)program.Elizabeth Mattson, Tom Zimmerand Adam Bortz presented aposter "Comparing DifferentMethods of Estimating AchillesTendon Tension in Running" at theUWL Celebration of StudentResearch and Creativity in April2015.Cole Paulsen presented a poster,"Optimizing the Detection Circuitryof Quantum-Dot-Based Single-Photon Detectors" at the 2015National Conference on Under-graduate Research (NCUR) inCheney, Washington, and at theUWL Celebration of StudentResearch and Creativity in April2015.Rachel Schornak and TylerThorsen presented a poster, "TheEffect of Foot Strike Pattern onAchilles Tendon Stress andStrain During Running" at theUWL Celebration of StudentResearch and Creativity inApril 2015.

Tanner Wolf presented a poster,"ZnO-Based Electro-AbsorptionModulators" at the 9th Annual UWLSummer College of Science andHealth Celebration of Under-graduate Research in August 2015.

Benjamin Vinz presented a poster,"Investigating the Role ofResistance in theDetectionCircuitryof Quantum-Dot-Based Single-Photon Detectors" at the WisconsinScience and Technology Sympos-ium inRiver Falls,Wisconsin, in July2015. This work was supported byan external National ScienceFoundation (NSF) grant.

Evan Dowling received a Wisconsin Space Grant ConsortiumUndergraduateResearchFellowship for his proposal, "CanDarkMatterHalos Change Shape?". He presented a poster summarizing hissummer findings at the annual Wisconsin Space Grant Conference inAugust 2015 (shown left).

Marcus Lowe worked with the VANDLE group at Oak RidgeNational Laboratory over the summer and presented his work atthe American Physical Society Division of Nuclear Physics FallMeeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico in October 2015 with partialsupport from the Conference Experience for Undergraduate(CEU) program. His poster was, "Measured 19F(α,n) withVANDLE for Nuclear Safeguards" (shown right). His work wassponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the NationalScience Foundation (NSF).

Undergrad

Scott Erickson worked under Drs. Jennifer Ross,Taviare Hawkins (UWL), and graduate student,Naoto Isaki in theBiophysicsGroupat theUniversityof Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts aspart of the B-SMaRT (Biological and Soft MatterResearch Traineeship) Research Experience forUndergraduate (REU) program. He was able topresent his work "The Effects of Segmentation onMicrotubule Rigidity" at a poster session shownbelow.

Congratulations to those students who were awarded fellowshipsand awards for their work:Evan Dowling and Bryan Nestingen 2015 Wisconsin SpaceGrant Consortium (WSGC) Undergraduate Research FellowshipTanner Wolf and Brandon Harris 2015 UWL School of Science &Health Dean's Distinguished Undergraduate Summer FellowshipAdrienne Hester 2015 WiscAMP (Wisconsin Alliance for MinorityParticipation) Summer Research FellowPhysics major Jacob Gloe (Class of 2015) received the 2015Murphy Award for Academic Excellence. Jacob gradated in May2015 with a BS degree in Physics and Applied Mathematics and aminor in Computer Science.

As a Department, we believe student participation in research is of equalimportance to traditional classroom activities. Research allows thestudents to apply what they have been taught in the classroom to "realworld" experiences. During the academic term, students work in researchlaboratories for class credit and through fellowships. In the summer,students are chosen to work in the laboratories full-time to feel the fullresearch experience. These pages give an idea of the research some ofour students have participated in this year.

aduate Re

search

Student Authors on Papers (Students in maroon, faculty in teal) Due to the time it takes papers to bepublished, student authors have already graduated with degrees from UWL.Eric J. Korpela, Shauna M. Sallmen, and Diana Leystra Green. "Modeling Indications of Technology inPlanetary Transit Light Curves -- Dark-Side Illumination", The Astrophysical Journal, 809, 139 (2015).

S. R. Lesher, C. Casarella, A. Aprahamian, B. P. Crider, R. Ikeyama, I. R. Marsh, M. T. McEllistram, E. E.Peters, F. M. Prados-Estévez, M. K. Smith, Z. R. Tully, J. R. Vanhoy, and S. W. Yates. "Collectivity of 0+states in 160Gd", Physical Review C, 91, 054317 (2015).Shauna M. Sallmen, Eric J. Korpela, Brooke Bellehumeur, Elizabeth M. Tennyson, Kurt Grunwald, CheukMan Lo. "Interstellar HI Shells Identified in the SETHI Survey", The Astronomical Journal, 149, 189 (2015).

(left to right) Rolland Hernandex (Microbiology - UWL), TeganMarianchuk (Physics REU student from Arizona State Univ.),and Adrienne Hester in Taviare Hawkins Lab summer 2015.

Women in Physics ClubThe Physics Department is home tothe Women in Physics (WIP) club, astudent organization aimed atencouraging women to pursuephysics and supporting themwhile atUWL.This yearWIP receivedagrantfrom The American Physical Society(APS) to recruit and retain women inphysics. “We wanted to get moreunderclassmen involved in theWomen in Physics Club by offeringenticing opportunities,” saidMadeline Lambert, the current WIPpresident.Oneof theseopportunitiesis an overnight trip to ArgonneNational Laboratory and the FermiNational Accelerator Laboratoryboth located outside of Chicagoduring spring break. The NationalScience Foundation will providefunding for a Communication andNegotiation Skills seminar to takeplace at the Physics Department forthe club. These seminars providewomen with the tools needed tothrive in physics. Madeline noted,“Hopefully, this will not onlyencourage more girls to be moreactive in the group, but also givethem skills to become successfulphysicists and engineers.”

The WIP club is also active in otherareas; they volunteer at the LaCrosse Children’s Museum and thephysics department laser light show,sell t-shirts, and attend theConference for UndergraduateWomen in Physics (CUWiP) everyJanuary. This year, six of the womenwill be attending the conference atBlack Hills State University in SouthDakota. WIPhas been attending thisconference for thepast three years.Nikki Dexter, the WIPvice presidentexplains why theyhave made it anannual trip, “CUWiPoffers an incredibleopportunity tailored tothe needs ofu n d e r g r a d u a t ewomen in physics byfostering connectionswith femaleunde r g r adua t e s ,physicists, engineers,and teachers fromaround the region”.

If you would like more informationabout WIP, please contact presidentMadeline Lambertlambert.made@uwlax.edu or facultyadvisor Dr. Shelly Lesherslesher@uwlax.edu

From left to right: Rachel Schornak, Priya Patel, ElizabethMcMahon, Abbie Barwig, Madeline Lambert, Nikki Dexter,

Adrienne Hester while volunteering at the La Crosse Children'sMuseum.

Excellence in ScholarshipAssistant Professor inPhysics, Dr. JenniferDocktor, was selected toreceive the School ofEducationRecognition ofExcellence for Outstand-ing Achievement inScholarship award. Shewas recognized at theSchool of Education's

Celebration of Educationceremony on April 26,2015.

Dr. Docktor is shownreceiving her award fromDr. Adrienne Loh,Department Chair of theSchool of Education.

The Spring Public LectureSeries in Physics hostedDr. Helen Quinn,Professor Emerita ofParticle Physics andAstrophysics at SLACNational AcceleratorLaboratory on April 8 & 9,2015. Dr. Quinn was oncampus to give twolectures and met withstudents over lunch and insmall groups. Her physicsseminar, “Theinterconnection of thesmallest and the largestthings” discussed thePeccei-Quinn Symmetry

and the search for darkmatter in the Universe.The public lecture, “Threedimensions for ScienceEducation:What are they?Why do they matter?”presented the research forthe National Academyreport that underlies theNext Generation ScienceStandards. The event wassponsored by theWisconsin Space GrantConsortium, the UWLCollege of Science &Health, and the UWLDepartment of Physics.

Spring Public Lecture Series

Every year, two students from eachof the comprehensive campusesare selected to become a WiSysstudent ambassador. This year,physics student Marcus Lowe wasone of the students chosen torepresent the UWL campus.

WiSys Technology Foundation(WiSys) isagroupwhichhelpsbringuniversity ideas and research intothe business world. This includesfunding promising projects via acompetitive grant process,information on intellectual propertyprotection, and how to take ideas tothe market. Student ambassadors

are the connection between WiSysand the campus. They organizeseminars, hostmixers, andserveasa resource for faculty members.

Marcus describes his experience,"While it is still in its beginningstages, WiSys plays anexceptionally useful role in today'sscientific process. Seeing sciencefrom a perspective outside of thelaboratoryhasexposedme toasideof the field I never pictured myselfbeing involved in, yet it continues tomake me realize I have been givenan invaluable opportunity."

WiSys Student AmbassadorMarcus Lowe (Physics) and RachelNeve (Microbiology & Biology) theWiSys student ambassadors fromUWL at an Ice Cream Social theyorganized to bring awareness to

campus of programs offered by thefoundation.

Physics Program InitiatesNew Composite MaterialsEngineering Dual-DegreeOption with Winona StateUniversityThe UWL Physics Programrecently established a new dual-degree physics/engineering trackwith Winona State University(WSU). In this track, students canearn a bachelor’s degree inphysics from UWL and abachelor’s degree in CompositeMaterials Engineering from WSU.The approximate time that it willtake a student to complete the dualdegree is 5 years: three years atUWL and two years at WSU. This

the newest addition to UWL’s dual-degree physics/engineeringoptions, was finalized in the fall of2015 and is now available tostudents. UWL also hasagreements with engineeringprograms at UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Platteville, andthe University of Minnesota – TwinCities.The WSU Composite MaterialsEngineering (CME) program is theonly accredited undergraduateprogramin theUnitedStates thatoffersabachelor of sciencedegreein Composite Materialsengineering. The mission of theCME Program is to develop

creative minds and innovation inthe field of composite materialsthrough education, appliedresearch, and scholarly pursuits incollaboration with the compositesindustry and community.Additional information about theWSU CME Program can be foundat (http://www.winona.edu/engineering/)

New Engineering Partnership

SPS Named Outstanding ChapterUWL Chapter of the Societyof Physics Students NamedOutstanding Chapter in2013/2014The UWL Chapter of the Society ofPhysics Students (SPS) wasnamed an Outstanding Chapter bythe national organization for the2013/2014 academic year. It is thefourth consecutive year the UWLchapter has been given the award.

SPS Outstanding Chapter Awardsare given each year and are basedon information provided in theannual reports provided by thechapters. Criteria for the awardinclude involvement in SPS andother professional meetings;participation in SPS programs;outreach efforts to the grades K-12or the general public; participationin community service; contri-

butions to student recruitment andretention; participation in socialevents, and interactions withalumni. Officers of the UWLChapter of SPS in 2013/2014 wereColin Egerer (President), LanceHildebrand (Vice President), MattFlanagan (Secretary), and ZachTully (Treasurer), with Dr. SethKing serving as the faculty advisor.

Physics Depart-ment faculty, staff, andstudents were saddened to learn of thedeath of Colton King. Colton was a 22year old UWL Dual-degree Physics

major who had transferred to theUniversity of Wisconsin – MilwaukeeMechanical Engineering program tocomplete his degrees. He had obtainedan internship position with Kohler andwas cycling to work on March 23, 2015when he was struck by a truck.

In Memoriam

Outreach Efforts of thePhysics ProgramRecognized by the LaCrosse Children's Museum

Students, faculty, and staff fromthe UWL Physics Program wereawarded the 2015 Judith A.BouffleurOutstandingVolunteersof the Year Award by theChildren’s Museum of La Crosse.The award, which is givenannually to recognize those thatdonate their time and talents tothe museum, was given to Dr.Gubbi Sudhakaran, Dr. JenniferDoctor, Steve Harris, and theUWL Physics EducationStudents. The Physics Programhas been involved with theChildren’s Museum since 2009.Each semester, students enrolledin the PHY 106 (Physical Sciencefor Educators) conduct physics-related activities and demonstrat-ionsat theMuseumduring “STEMSaturdays” that typically are heldonce or twice a month. Thepartnershipwas initiated as awayto get UWL students engagedwith the community. The studentstaking PHY 106 are majoring inelementary or middle school

education, and as a result, benefitfrom the experience they getteaching science to youngchildren. It is estimated that since2009, over 500 UWL studentshave taken part in these service-learning activities that haveimpacted thousands of kidsvisiting themuseum. When giventhe award Dr. Sudhakarancommented, “This collaborationis a win-win situation for studentswho want to be teachers, areakids, and the Children’sMuseum.”

The Children’s Museum of LaCrosse, located at 207 5thAvenue South in historicdowntownLaCrosse, offers threefloors of hands-on exhibits andprogramming for children ages1-12 and their adult companions.Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 amto 5 pm, Sunday Noon to 5 pm.Regular admission: $7 perperson (infants and membersfree.) Save-on-Sundayadmission: $6 per person.

Physics Program Receives Award

(from left to right) SteveHarris, Dr.Gubbi Sudhakaran,and Dr. Jennifer Docktor winners of the 2015 Judith A.Bouffleur Outstanding Volunteers of the Year Awardby the Children's Museum of La Crosse along with thePHY 106 class (shown above)

Contact detailswww.uwlax.edu/~physics

www.facebook.com/148114179608

Jennifer Docktor• Revitalizing Physics Teacher Education at

the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse,PhysTEC via the National Science Foundationand American Physical Society (with GubbiSudhakaran)

• Mathematics and Science PartnershipsProgram, Wisconsin Department of PublicInstruction (with Gubbi Sudhakaran, CherylHanson and Jerry Redman)

Eric Gansen• RUI: Optimizing the Performance of

Quantum-Dot-Based Single-Photon Detectors,NSF

• The Development of ZnO-Based Electro-Absorption Modulators, UW System Grant,WiSys Technology (with Seth King)

Taviare Hawkins• Mechanics of Microtubules with Lattice

Defects, WSGC• Mechanics of Microtubules with Lattice

Defects, UWL GrantSeth King

• Development of Low-Resistance ZincOxide Nanolaminate Films, NASA

• The Development of ZnO-Based Electro-Absorption Modulators, UW System Grant,WiSys Technology (with Eric Gansen)

Shelly Lesher• RUI – Understanding Vibrations in

Dysprosium, NSF• RUI – Vibrational Structure of the Gd

Isotopes, NSF• Search for 0+ States in Rare-Earth Nuclei,

UWL GrantRobert Ragan

• RIP: Predicting Collisionless Equilibria inDark Matter Simulations, WSGC

Physics Department Funded ResearchThe Department's funded research portfolio continuesto grow. Our faculty members search for funding inmultiple avenues including the Physics TeacherEducation Coalition (PhysTEC), National ScienceFoundation (NSF), Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium(WSGC), and the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA).

Sign up to receive this yearly newsletterand other Physics Department news:http://eepurl.com/bh9KNv

We have been working hard onkeeping our alumni email listupdated so you can receive newsand events from the UWL PhysicsDepartment. There are emailaddresses for alumni from 1953 to2015 but we need your help to fill ineveryone in between. Take amoment to look at the emailassociated with this newsletter andupdate it to the most current/

permanent address. We have madethis easy by using a mail program soyou control the process yourself.Weassure you we will not share yourinformation with others.Please share your accomplish-ments, job news, or pictures withfellow alumni in upcoming issues.Send this information to Sudha atgsudhakaran@uwlax.edu withexpress permission that theymay be

used in the newsletter.Remember the Physics seminar?This one credit class exposesstudents to research and careers inPhysics and Engineering. Considervolunteering togiveaseminarand letthem know how you are using yourphysics degree. Please emailSudha.

Attention Alumni