Dr. Macdonald is known for her work as the Star Trek franchise science advisor. In addition, she is a writer, speaker, producer, voice actor, and has written on the TTRPG Star Trek: Adventures, authored a baby board book Star Trek: My First Book of Space, and has voiced her own character on Star Trek: Prodigy and the video game Star Trek Online. Originally from Colorado, she completed her PhD at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and now lives in Los Angeles working solely as a writer and consultant for the entertainment industry. 

A Blaxican American woman and Southern California native, Dr. Desiré Whitmore, aka “LASERchick”, began her education in Community College and holds degrees in Physical Sciences, Chemical Engineering, and Chemical and Material Physics. Formerly, she has worked as a scientist in a national lab, a K-8 science curriculum developer, and a community college professor. She now works as the Exploratorium’s Staff Physicist Educator and Co-Director of K-12 Teacher Learning, where she bridges the gap between hands-on science, teacher education, and science communication.

Dr. Christina C. C. Willis is a laser scientist, lobbyist, and public speaker, living and working in Boulder, CO. She served as a AAAS Congressional Fellow in 2019 and is currently Director of External and Government Affairs at Colorado-based quantum technology company Infleqtion. In her free time, she teaches, writes science fiction, and volunteers with a local fire department.

Dr. Aiello is a quantum engineer interested in how quantum physics informs biology. She is the co-founder of the Quantum Biology Ecosystem, which is bringing about the quantum biology industry by design. Clarice is the preeminent scientist in the field of quantum biology, having given more than 100 talks, incl. for NIH, NSF, NASA, MIT Lincoln Labs, Los Alamos Natl. Labs, and the European Commission. Born and raised in Brazil, Clarice has a Diplome d’Ingenieur in Physics from the Ecole Polytechnique in France and an M.Phil. in Physics from the University of Cambridge, Trinity College, in England; she received her Ph.D. from MIT in Electrical  Engineering. She further held postdoctoral appointments in Bioengineering at Stanford, and in Chemistry at Berkeley. Clarice is writing the first-ever textbook on Quantum Biology.

Dr. Babaei is a postdoctoral research associate at CU Boulder. She received her BS in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics from Yasuj University and her PhD in Bioengineering from UIUC. Her research is in the field of Medical Imaging and holds significant clinical applications.

Sara received her PhD from JILA in 2017 and is currently leading a testbed at Quantinuum focused on experiments working towards integrated photonics with trapped ions, for long-term quantum computer scalability. In her free time, she enjoys skiing, mountaineering, tap dancing, and pottery.

Kristina Chang earned her PhD in atomic, molecular, and optical physics from UC Berkeley and completed a postdoc at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). She is now a Senior Engineer at Octave Photonics, where she develops chip-based laser and optical technologies. Outside of work, Kristina enjoys trail running, climbing, and frolicking in the mountains.

Misty is currently a first year PhD student in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at CU Boulder. She went to an arts high school, then majored in physics in college, then decided to pursue engineering, so she has had a fair share of pivot points already and is excited to share her experiences with CU*iP attendees.

Willa is a 5th year physics graduate student at CU. She grew up in a rural region of Wisconsin and attended Lawrence University for her Bachelor of Arts in physics. She's passionate about her research in atomic physics where she is working on an optical atomic clock based on trapped aluminum ions. But Willa is also passionate about knitting, running, nature, and writing.

Gayle recently graduated CU Boulder with a PhD in physics, specializing in Physics Education Research. She has two adorable cats and is a huge football and hockey fan.

Jake earned their PhD in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 2022 and is now a postdoctoral fellow at JILA and CU Boulder. They are interested in bridging technologies between atomic physics and physical chemistry to enable new studies in excited state chemistry and biophysics. Outside of lab, they can be found taking pictures of their cat, Tate Higgins. 

Dr. Hoehn received a bachelor's in physics from UC Santa Barbara, and then a PhD in Physics Education Research from CU Boulder, studying various aspects of student learning of quantum mechanics. Now, Dr. Hoehn is the Director of Public Engagement and Education Research for the JILA Physics Frontier Center at CU Boulder. In this role, she directs the Partnerships for Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC) program, which connects university student volunteers with K12 youth to engage with physics and engineering in afterschool clubs or high school classroom settings. 

Prof. Hoffman is a professor and astronomer at the University of Denver. She studies how massive stars interact with their environments, both before and after they explode as supernovae. She is also involved in multiple efforts to broaden participation in physics and astronomy by people from minoritized groups.

Olivia is a Systems Integration and Test Engineer at Lockheed Martin where she has supported programs such as Janus, Lunar Trailblazer, Cryo-Demo Mission, and GPSIII.

Liz Kruesi is an award-winning science journalist and editor based outside Denver. She studied physics and English in college and astrophysics in graduate school before deciding to instead tell the stories found in astronomy. When Liz isn't writing about the universe, she enjoys relaxing with her dogs, making jewelry, or hiking nearby trails.

Rae is a second year graduate student at CU Boulder and works on a laser development team. In their free time, Rae enjoys making zines, playing video games, watching movies, meeting their friends’ cats, and journaling.

Kathleen Menyhart earned a B.S. degree in Physics from the University of Michigan and was a high school physics teacher for 10 years before moving to Colorado and changing careers. She now holds an M.S.E. degree from CU Boulder in Architectural Engineering and works for AE Design in Denver as a Senior Electrical Engineer and Lighting Designer.  

Nereida is a 2nd year grad student in the CU Physics Department. Her research is in quantum materials synthesis.

Stephanie is a 2nd year geophysics graduate student at CU with a bachelor's degree in physics and a minor in mathematics from Penn State. She switched to geophysics after her acceptance into the Physics PhD program at CU. In addition to science, Stephanie is passionate about art, the environment, and femininity in STEM.

Josie is a final-year grad student in physics education research specializing in the teaching and learning of quantum computing and quantum information science. She is especially passionate about reenvisioning physics education and physics culture for justice and liberation, as exemplified by her work with the Quantum Ethics Project. When not doing research or teaching physics, you can find her playing board games with her friends, improvising on the piano, or hanging out with her two very silly tabby cats!

Abigail is a second year graduate student at Columbia University where she studies theoretical high energy astrophysics. Her work spans a broad range of topics within this, from gravitational waves to plasma dynamics. Outside of physics, Abigail runs a book club and enjoys exploring the city with friends.

Dr. Morita is a USPTO registered patent agent at Neugeboren O'Dowd IP Law with a PhD in electrical engineering and an Executive MBA from CU, as well as bachelor’s degrees in physics and cello performance. She specializes in creating and executing tailored IP strategies for early stage hardware companies with complicated technologies, has started three companies, and serves on the Advisory Board for the CU Boulder Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative.

Prof. Mulu-Moore is the Physics and Astronomy lead at Aims Community College. Her research background is in Solar Physics, and she completed a postdoc at NASA studying the coronal heating problem. While her research experience was rewarding, her true passion lies in inspiring student curiosity and making physics approachable and accessible. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, board games, Legos, camping, stargazing, and chasing solar eclipses with her family.

Dr. Jimmy Negus is a solar physics research scientist at CU Boulder. He completed his Ph.D. in astrophysics at CU Boulder, serves as an active Board Member for The Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the largest general astronomy education society in the world, and has authored two books: Mysteries of Space: Black Holes Explained and Mysteries of Space: Supernovas Explained. Dr. Negus is also strongly involved in astronomy outreach—he led the campaign to bring a new scale model solar system to CU Boulder's campus, which helps visitors better understand the size and vastness of space.

Carolyn Collins Petersen is a science writer who focuses on topics in astronomy, astrophysics, and space science through books, articles, scripts, and exhibitions. Carolyn is a graduate of the University of Colorado and studied physics and astronomy and during her graduate program, she worked at LASP as part of a Hubble Space Telescope instrument Team. Carolyn is CEO of Loch Ness Productions, a company specializing in production and distribution of science education materials to museums, science centers and planetarium facilities. She reads and writes science fiction, and enjoys working in fabric arts as a hobby. Over the past ten years she has lectured about astronomy and space science aboard cruise ships around the world. See her production company's website here: www.lochessproductions.com

Adrienne received a Bachelor's in Astrophysics and a Master's in Aerospace Engineering from CU Boulder. She now works as a spacecraft flight controller at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, where she worked as a student command controller for 4 years while earning her degrees. When she's not flying satellites, you can find her practicing circus arts including aerial silks and flying trapeze, crocheting, or watching sports.

As a research scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Geomagnetism Program, Neesha pursues research questions related to planetary electromagnetic fields and geomagnetic natural hazards. Previously, they were a research scientist at the CU Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, a data scientist at Maxar Technologies, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration/CU. Beyond physics, they love trail running, mountain adventures, and quiet acoustic evenings with snuggly animals.

Aliza is a first year PhD student at CU Boulder. Her research area is quantum computing and architecture. She is working towards creating new benchmarking frameworks for error-corrected quantum computers. She received her BS in Computer Science from LSU and is proud to be from the Tiger family! When not at her computer, she loves to challenge herself by trying new things – whether that is an activity or even food. She has recently tried hiking different trails and plans to go skiing soon! Aside from that, she enjoys all sorts of art and racket sports.

Kevin has been a professor of physics at CU since 2005. As the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies (2022-present and 2014-2018) he is in charge of graduate admissions. His research is in particle physics including searches for supersymmetry in the CMS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.

Ruby is a first-year physics PhD student at CU Boulder, where she conducts research in quantum information theory, focusing on quantum error correction, as a member of Professor Xun Gao’s group. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Honours Physics and major Physiology from McGill University in Canada. Her website is https://sites.google.com/view/zixian-wei/home

Alexandra Witze is an award-winning freelance science journalist in Boulder, covering the earth, planetary and astronomical sciences. She has written for publications including Nature, Science News, and Knowable magazines, and is president of the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains.