Hello PandA Alumni!

Another academic year full of activity is coming to an end. UNM removed its mask mandate but COVID remains an issue always lurking in the background. We’re very happy that we’ve managed to resume some activities from the “before times”, in particular our demo show (which we took on the road for the first time), Physics Day (our celebration of undergraduate research), and PandA Espresso, our weekly coffee get-together in the lobby of PAIS. Our REU has just resumed as a fully in-person undergrad research program this summer, and our home-grown Quantum Materials undergrad research program, Qu-REACH, is up and running for a second summer.

Faculty News

We’ve remained busy and productive in research, and our faculty continue to receive prestigious awards: among them Darcy Barron received a Cottrell Fellowship for studies of the Cosmic Microwave Background, and Tara Drake received an AFOSR Young Investigators Award. We’re excited about the addition of a talented Lecturer, Jose Sanchez, one of our own alumni, who’ll start in the fall. Wolfgang Rudolph will retire after 32 years of service and six and a half years as department Chair to become a working retiree in the fall. Our talented researcher and teacher Elizabeth Crosson also leaves us for new challenges after two years with our department.

On a sad note, we note the passing in June of Emeritus Professor Mike Zeilik, our former colleague whose was well known in physics and astronomy education research (including a popular introductory astronomy text) and archaeo-astronomy. Many of our emeriti have expressed their memories of Mike as a great colleague.

Staff Updates

We’re really pleased that three new staff members came on board: Lisa-Marie Johnson, our new accountant, Anca-Monia Constantinescu, our Advanced Lab Coordinator, and Joe Reichert, our new machinist. Also, our Department Administrator Julie Morrison won a well-deserved Gerald May outstanding staff award. We’re now looking to replace Aaron Cross, our lecture demonstration coordinator and Regener Hall manager, who has just left for an exciting position at AFRL.

Student Achievements

Our students are at the heart of our mission. Noteworthy this spring, our Society of Physics Students chapter was honored for the fourth year in a row, this year receiving a national Notable Chapter Award. We can’t say enough about the enthusiasm shown by our SPS members. Our recently founded organization WiPAO (Womxn, in Physics, Astronomy, and Optics) continued to grow, and received a Women in Physics Group Grant from the American Physical Society.

New Campus Observatory

Among the major challenges we face going forward is the push for a new Campus Observatory, which I mentioned last time. We’re now starting the planning process with UNM’s Planning, Design, and Construction office and we’re on the radar of Government Relations.

Where Will the Money Come From?

The first step is to raise around $50,000 for the design study for this ~$3 million project. We’re looking into different ways to go about that. One important strategy is to raise some seed money for the design study to show the state legislature that there is great interest in the community for such a new facility. Perhaps $5000 or $10,000 would make that point clear. If you are interested in seeing this project happen, I ask you to please consider donating to our Astronomy Program Fund.

We have many other ways to support our mission which you can find via a link at the end of this newsletter. I hope you enjoy reading about the highlights of this semester in PandA!