I’m a theoretical physicist and writer, so that means I spend much of my day rearranging letters. Sometimes that means I’m finding the equations of motion, deriving evolution questions, or coding said equations into a plot that allows us to make sense of what \( \frac{dQ}{dt} = \frac{-e^3}{\pi^2 \hbar^2} Q^2 [ \frac{e^{\frac{-r_+^2}{Q_0 Q}}}{r_+} -\sqrt{\frac{\pi}{Q Q_0}} \space Erfc(\frac{r_+}{\sqrt{Q Q_0}})] \) really means. It also means that I write in genres ranging from science writing to personal essay to novels that blur the line between science fiction and fantasy. Often times I write about the connection between identity and place. In fiction, that means I explore characters in new worlds. In essays, that means I talk about moving constantly from place to place. In physics, that means I’ve studied relativity and how two particles scattering off of each other can tell us their true mass. For more about my research interests, follow this link. For more about my writing, follow this one.
Most of all, I believe that storytelling is what brings us all together and how ideas are most clearly be transmitted. Scientific articles are the stories we tell each other to convey ideas, and the ones people understand are the ones where they can follow the story. Grant writing requires the same skills, and so does public outreach. We host conferences to hear others talk about their work and meet others rather than just read papers posted to the arXiv. Stories are often why people enter science in the first place, whether they are about the constellations in the sky or that yes, there are others who look like you who have already walked this path before, why can’t you?
If you were to ask me where I’m from, I might answer with California, Pennsylvania, or North Carolina! I grew up moving from place to place, averaging two years in each place. The full list includes Virginia Beach (VA), Carlisle (PA), Oceanside (CA), Oxnard (CA), Quinter (KS) just for a month or two at a time, The Woodlands (TX), Calgary (Canada), Dubai (UAE), Spring (TX), Collegeville (PA), Pisa (Italy), Pinehurst (NC), and currently Chapel Hill (NC)! And after picking up an interest in language from moving so many times and wanting to learn different grammatical structures, I have become conversational in French, learned some Italian, and in the beginning stages of learning Irish.
If you wanted the easy answer, I’ll tell you I grew up in California, am from Pennsylvania, or that I live in North Carolina.
Outside of all of this — though if you would believe it I have very little free time — I work on art projects ranging from knitting to painting, DM a Dungeons and Dragons campaign with my friends (again, worldbuilding), drum, and bake. I’m quite proud of the gluten-free bread I’ve made and the various cookies and brownies my friends couldn’t believe were gluten-free. I’m also a cat person through and through and I have a project on the horizon combining cats, quantum mechanics, and writing — announcement coming soon.
