Meet the Organizers

LOC Chair, Asst. Professor of Physics

Dr. Bethany Wilcox is a faculty member in the Physics department. Her research is broadly in the area of physics education research, with specializations in creating tools to measure student learning and investigating mathematically sophisticated problem-solving. Outside her career, Bethany enjoys dancing and weight-lifting, and is currently working on learning American Sign Language.

Favorite spot in Boulder: Flatiron Coffee, only 1 mile from campus to have a sip of coffee in a friendly environment with a gorgeous view of the flatiron!

Anya is a physics graduate student in the Kapteyn-Murnane group in JILA. Her research focuses on studying ultrafast spin dynamics with extreme ultraviolet light. In her free time, Anya serves as a judge and athlete representative for the USA Acrobatic Gymnastics program. She also likes to hike, ski, and trail run with her dog in the mountains, and design manicures to match her conference presentations. 

Restaurant recommendation: Zoe Ma Ma on Pearl Street - really delicious Chinese food and super friendly staff!

Iona Binnie is a graduate student in the Katpeyn-Murnane group in JILA. She uses extreme ultraviolet and ultrafast light sources to investigate the structure and dynamics of magnetic phenomena such as skyrmions. She enjoys baking, crafting, playing D&D, and hiking in the wilderness areas west of Boulder.

Recommendation for lunch/a quick bite close to campus/the hotel: Zodiac Subs

Advertising & Outreach Subcommittee

Thi (pronounced 'thee') works with the Sun group at JILA, developing a microcavity (2 tiny mirrors) to help enhance interaction between photons and "artificial atoms" in solid. Facilitating communication between light and matter helps us probe interesting quantum phenomena and build a platform for quantum technology. For CU*iP, she is also facilitating communication with students and other stakeholders for a successful conference.

Thi sings and plays the guitar in the physics dept.'s musical ensemble (the Grand Canonical Ensemble). She enjoys cooking Vietnamese food and is trying to pick up running.

Favorite spots in town: food court on the hill (selection from Bentoria, Thai Avenue, Korea House, burger in one complex), Aventi on Pearl for Boulder night view

Margie is a physics grad student working on trapped ion quantum networks at NIST. She went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for undergrad where she majored in both physics and math and most of her research experience was in astrophysics. She attended two CU*iPs as a participant where she learned about quantum information as a research area and was able to connect with relatable role models. She hopes to help make CU*iP 2025 just as exciting and fulfilling an experience for this year's participants! 

In her free time, she enjoys climbing, craft projects, board games, and hanging out with her ball python Lunyx.

Margie's local recs: Boxcar coffee, Tiffins India Cafe (whose takeout fueled several E&M problem sessions with her roommates - also women in the physics program - throughout her first-year).

Willa is in her 5th year of graduate school at CU and does AMO research at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). There, she gets to spend all day tinkering with ions and lasers and making them into optical atomic clocks. For her undergad, Willa attended a small liberal arts college, Lawrence University. During her time there, she got to attend two CU*iP conferences, co-founded the Lawrence University Women and Gender Minorities in Physics group, and balanced her interest in AMO research with her interests outside the world of physics. In her spare time these days, Willa loves to knit sweaters for her friends and family, read sci-fi and fantasy, and train for triathlons and marathons. 

Whenever she's feeling a little indulgent, she stops at Suti & Co for a cookie or Boxcar Coffee for a lavender London fog!

Adalyn is a third-year undergraduate in CU Boulder's Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Department. She works at LASP researching stellar flares and is currently doing a Latin Honors Thesis project for the department. Adalyn attended and presented at CU*iP in Arizona in 2024 and says it was a transformative experience. She is very excited to be helping plan this year's CU*iP at CU Boulder. She loves going on road trips to the ocean, hiking and backpacking, and watching Doctor Who in her free time. 

Adalyn's favorite spots in Boulder are Meta Burger, Jaipur Indian Restaurant, and Tsing Tao.