Plasma Pride

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Profiles in Pride

To celebrate pride month, DPP Pride is highlighting members of the plasma physics community throughout the month of June.

Amelia Cavallaro

(MIT)

Amelia Cavallaro

  • Where do you work and what do you work on?
    I am a PhD student at MIT studying the I-mode edge. The whats, wheres, whys, and hows!
  • Describe your work to a non-scientist in 10 words or less.
    I use lasers and computers to understand fusion reactors.
  • How do you identify?
    I am a Jewish bisexual trans woman.
  • What does Pride mean to you?
    Pride is the feeling in your chest when, not only are you free to be yourself, but everyone is. When a group wins their rights, when a community is formed, when those not typically afforded love or hope create what they need.
  • How do you celebrate Pride?
    When I take the time to relax into my friend groups, my social networks, and the wider queer community, I celebrate pride :)
  • Do you have any pets?
    I have a small long-haired black cat named Mercury! Her litter was rescued from a barn as kittens, and the whole litter was named after the planets; she was the smallest!!
  • What is your favorite non-science activity?
    I love cooking massive pots of food for many tens of people. What could be better?
  • What book do you regularly re-read?
    I like Cormac McCarthy. I read Blood Meridian a lot; sometimes one needs to reflect on evil, I guess.
  • What do you think are the best and worst super powers?
    Super powers as a framework are a scam because they can be defined too broadly! Magneto? All magnetism? Nuts, ridiculous. The best superpowers, to me, have to be somewhat realistic: I vote for the superpower of getting really good sleep every night.
  • What is the most useless talent you have?
    I can turn my feet out to a 270 degree angle. Useful for adding a bit of body horror to people's day!
  • What place (real or imaginary, current, future or past) would you most like to visit?
    I'd like to spend a summer in the midnight sun, up in the Lofoten archipelago of Norway.
  • Which person (real or imaginary, current, future or past) would you most like to meet?
    Anne Frank. I think a lot about how to help children facing the cruelties of the world, and listening to them talk about it is vital. I can't think of a better person to listen to.
  • What is your favorite atomic element?
    Gotta be Boron. Who doesn't love Boron? My problematic fave is Beryllium, though, for sure.

Thomas Varnish

(MIT)

Thomas Varnish

  • Where do you work and what do you work on?
    I’m a PhD candidate at MIT, working on the PUFFIN facility. We’re building this new long-pulse pulsed-power experiment to study a process called “magnetic reconnection”, where magnetic field lines break and rearrange themselves inside plasmas, heating and accelerating the plasma. It’s a crucial process in the formation of solar flares, and is also found in many other extreme astrophysical environments, such as the accretion disks around black holes, pulsars, etc!
  • Describe your work to a non-scientist in 10 words or less.
    I blow up refillable pencil leads to study space things!
  • How do you identify?
    I identify as a gay man, and I use he/him pronouns.
  • What does Pride mean to you?
    To me, Pride means finding and embracing my whole self, in spite of all the times I’ve ever been made to feel ashamed for simply being me. It’s about finding a supportive community, and celebrating together with them. Being visibly and unapologetically proud of my identity has not only been a brilliant antidote to shame, but I hope it can also help to show others that they’re not alone. Pride is definitely a journey!
  • How do you celebrate Pride?
    I really love spending time with friends, going to all the local events, celebrations, and parades. It’s so affirming to see so many different affinity groups celebrating, and more importantly, being celebrated. Hearing “Happy Pride!” from a glitter-clad drag queen, followed by a queer sports team, and then a kink group, is a really special feeling. Pride is definitely a time to be embracing, supporting, and celebrating our own community, together!
  • Do you have any pets?
    Yes! But unfortunately he’s all the way back home in the UK with my family. His name is Jasper, and he’s definitely the cutest Cavalier King Charles Spaniel ever.
  • What is your favorite non-science activity?
    I really enjoy crafting (particularly knitting/crocheting and pottery). It’s such a relaxing thing that you can do to just switch off. And the bonus is you get a lovely hand-made item to keep or give away as a gift at the end!
  • What is your favorite atomic element?
    Hmm, I’d say either Hydrogen (it’s abundant, the building block of stars, analytically solvable, and has a nice spectrum to boot), or Carbon (since I study Carbon plasmas in all of my experiments).
  • What is your favorite street food?
    Savoury? Empanadas. Sweet? Definitely a Beaver Tail from Canada (if you’ve never had one it’s a flat, fried-dough dessert covered in cinnamon sugar and other toppings like Nutella, and they’re delicious).

Cameron Geddes

(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Cameron Geddes

  • Where do you work and what do you work on?
    I’m the Director of the Accelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where I’ve worked for the past twenty two years  -starting as a student - on new types of particle accelerators, fusion science, photon sources and more.  My research focus is in using laser driven plasma waves to accelerate particles in much smaller distances than conventional machines can - for example 8 GeV in 20cm.  This can enable the next generation of particle colliders as well as probes and ignitors for fusion.  It also can bring capabilities like precision photon sources with greater precision and less radiation dose - usually reserved for National Labs - to the clinic or industry. Our Division invents and develops all kinds of particle accelerators, magnets, simulations and photon sources to explore and control matter and energy, as well as systems for fusion, new materials, and related areas of applied physics.
  • Describe your work to a non-scientist in 10 words or less.
    Tools probing matter’s essential structure, for medicine, and clean energy. 
  • How do you identify?
    Gay
  • What does Pride mean to you?
    Pride means visibility for our community, in particular in spaces like science where we were so long forbidden from or punished for being in, and a chance to open that door further for future generations.
  • How do you celebrate Pride?
    As much as I can! At work with flags on my door or in zoom and at events with colleagues as part of LBNL’s Lambda Alliance, which is active all year and highlights events for Pride month. With friends and my teams at the festivals and parade. Taking the opportunities all those offer to get out and be with our community. 
  • What is your favorite non-science activity?
    This year it’s been cycling, and I’m excited to be getting ready for California's Aids LifeCycle as part of the New Bear Republic team - we’ll be riding 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles in June to help agencies working to reduce new HIV infections and improve quality of life for those living with HIV and AIDS.
  • What is your favorite street food?
    Spicy Thai papaya salad!

Abbey Armstrong

(University of Rochester)

Abby Armstrong

  • Where do you work and what do you work on?
    I work at the University of Rochester in the Flash Center for Computational Science. I work on computational MHD and magnetized turbulence in a box, and occasionally lab astro. 
  • Describe your work to a non-scientist in 10 words or less.
    I explore the origin and growth of magnetic fields in astrophysics.
  • How do you identify?
    I identify as a queer woman.
  • What does Pride mean to you?
    Pride to me is no longer feeling the need to hide part of who I am. It is about radical self-love and embracing all of me, not just the parts that society deems acceptable.
  • What is your favorite non-science activity?
    Rock climbing! I love climbing so much. It is a great sport that challenges me both physically and mentally, and gets me to some very gorgeous settings outside.  
  • What book do you regularly re-read and/or what TV show/movie do you regularly re-watch and/or what game do you regularly re-play?
    I love to watch the extended cuts of Lord of The Rings once a year.  
  • Are you learning to play a musical instrument?
    I am learning to play the mandolin.  
  • What is your favorite atomic element?
    Bismuth
  • What is your favorite street food?
    I love falafel wraps. Any time of day I could go for one.

Alex LeViness

(Princeton University)

Alex LeViness

  • Where do you work and what do you work on?
    I’m a Ph.D. student in plasma physics at Princeton University. My advisor is Dr. David Gates and I work with him on stellarators, a type of magnetic confinement device. My work is both computational (optimization of stellarator equilibria and energetic particle simulations) and experimental (creating a fast ion loss detector to implement on the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator). Before I came to Princeton, I got the opportunity to spend a year at W7-X as a Fulbright scholar. I’m also currently the President of Princeton Women in Plasma Physics.
  • Describe your work to a non-scientist in 10 words or less.
    Finding out how magnetic fields can better hold fast particles.
  • How do you identify?
    I’ve been openly queer since the age of 15, though how I label myself has evolved over time. Currently, I would describe myself as a bisexual and gender nonconforming woman. I’m also autistic!
  • What does Pride mean to you?
    It means not hiding who I am or cutting off parts of myself to fit into other people’s ideas of what I should be—as a scientist, or just in general.
  • Do you have any pets?
    I’ve got two incredibly stupid cats named Grimble and Grue.
  • What is your favorite non-science activity?
    I like losing games of poker, reading and writing stories, petting cats, and picking up heavy things and putting them back down.
  • What book do you regularly re-read and/or what TV show/movie do you regularly re-watch and/or what game do you regularly re-play?
    I’m currently on my fourth watch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you befriend me, you are at high risk of being conned into watching the entirety of Buffy with me.
  • What do you think are the best and worst superpowers?
    I’m a huge fan of a superhero web novel called Worm that has an extremely detailed power classification system, so I think a lot about interesting superpowers. If I could choose any power, I would want to have preternaturally good timing: I would always do things at the exact right moment. I think the worst would be the guy from Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog who makes things moist.
  • What is your favorite street food?
    I’ve visited Vietnam twice and I think that they have the best street food in the world. Particularly bánh mì and bún bò, or even just some fresh fruit and trà đá (iced tea).

Steve Vincena

UCLA Basic Plasma Science Facility

Steve Vincena

  • Where do you work and what do you work on?
    I work at UCLA’s Basic Plasma Science Facility (https://plasma.physics.ucla.edu) where I am a Research Physicist and the facility’s Deputy Director.  I’m involved in a number of plasma wave (especially Alfvén wave) experiments: electron acceleration by shear Alfvén waves; wave propagation in nonuniform plasmas; shear wave excitation and propagation in multi-species plasmas; kink instability and Alfvén wave nonlinear interactions; lower hybrid wave generation by laser-target ablation; and more!
  • Describe your work to a non-scientist in 10 words or less.
    We make a piece of a star in my lab! 
  • How do you identify?
    I identify as a cis, gay man.
  • What does Pride mean to you?
    Like our community, Pride is a whole spectrum of individual experiences and expressions. For me, Pride means being at a place in my life where I know that I, my family, my friends, and my colleagues accept me for who I am.
  • Do you have any pets
    My husband and I have two cats: Dylan and Chloe. Both of them are about old enough that we’ll soon be sending them to college.
  • What is your favorite non-science activity?
    Surfing. As a graduate student, part of my dissertation work was on particle acceleration by Aflvén waves in a magnetic beach. So, at work, I’d be studying wave-particle interactions, but before then I’d be up at dawn doing a macroscopic version of that, with me as the particle. Plus, there is just a wonderful serenity about a pastime on the interface between life on the land and life in the ocean. For me, it is both sport and meditation.
  • What is the most useless talent you have?
    I’m not sure if it’s a talent, but I can roll a quarter back and forth along the outside of my fingers—the way you can picture a magician doing it. It’s completely useless because I don’t know any accompanying magic tricks.
  • What place (real or imaginary, current, future or past) would you most like to visit?
    Anywhere on earth a hundred years hence. I want to see fusion power providing everyone with all of their energy needs. Mainly, I want to see that our species has learned a great deal and that we treat each other and the planet with a lot more respect than we do now.
  • What is your favorite atomic element?
    Carbon. Sure, it has a bad reputation these days because we humans have been abusing it, but think of the amazing things it can do. It can have the electrically insulating form of diamond with incredible thermal conductivity, or it can bind together to form superconducting nanotubes. Of all the elements, carbon atoms have an unparalleled ability to concatenate with other carbon atoms. This allows an untold wealth of organic compounds and a seemingly infinite complexity that gave rise to life in the universe. 
  • What is your favorite street food?
    Anything tastes good at 2AM.

Kendra Bergstedt

(Princeton University)

  • Where do you work and what do you work on?
    I'm a graduate student in the plasma physics program at Princeton. Physically I'm studying magnetic reconnection in Earth's magnetotail, and methodologically I'm trying to leverage AI to interpret in-situ spacecraft data (detecting small-scale plasmoids in the magnetotail).
  • Describe your work to a non-scientist in 10 words or less.
    Making machines characterize spacecraft data so I don't have to.
  • How do you identify?
    I'm nonbinary, pronouns they/them/theirs. If you'd prefer a more specific label I'm partial to androgyne.
  • What does Pride mean to you?
    For me, Pride is purposefully existing visibly and loudly. I think the goal of Pride (specifically from a nonbinary perspective) is to increase society's understanding of this gender identity. Greater visibility will erode some of the uncomfortable 'otherness' of transness, and will hopefully help others figure out their own gender identity and expression with less stress, confusion and impostor syndrome than I had.
  • Do you have any pets?
    I have a large grey tuxedo cat named James who has a melancholic expression and a half pink and half black nose. He's a distinguished, laid back, portly gentleman who loves treats, the 'da bird' cat toy, and unabashedly staring at you. He has chronic asthma and needs to use an inhaler, which looks just as silly as you would expect.
  • What is your favorite non-science activity?
    Just one? I can't possibly choose! I'd say the main flavors of things I'm interested in are crafting (knitting etc.), nature (hiking, botanizing...), gaming (video and D&D), and playing music (flute, tenor saxophone...). I switch around a lot.
  • What book do you regularly re-read and/or what TV show/movie do you regularly re-watch and/or what game do you regularly re-play?
    Oh dear. I play way too much of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It's entirely my fault that Bethesda keeps rereleasing the game and hasn't released Elder Scrolls VI yet, and I am very sorry.