Local organizers

Benedetta Flebus
Assistant Prof. of Physics
Boston College
Chair of LOC

Michael J. Graf
Prof. and Chair of Physics
Boston College

Laura Steinberg
Prof. of Earth&Environment
Director of Schiller Center
Boston College

Jim West
Assistant Director of Schiller
Boston College

Kenneth S. Burch
Prof. of Physics
Boston College

Ilija Zeljkovic
Prof. of Physics
Boston College

Brian B. Zhou
Assistant Prof. of Physics
Boston College

I-See Warisa Jaidee
Undergraduate Student
Wellesley College

Jayakrishnan M. P. Nair
Postdoc
Boston College

Alenna Streeter
Graduate Student
Boston College

Sarah Wells
Undergrad Student
Boston College

Xinyue Zhang
Graduate Student
Boston College

Benedetta Flebus

Benedetta Flebus is an assistant professor at Boston College. Her theoretical research has spanned several areas of condensed matter theory, including phononic, magnonic and electronic systems, and lately she became very interested in exploring the confluence between quantum optics and solid state phenomena. Outside of her work, she loves listening to live music and doing yoga. Currently she is a co-organizer of the Women in Physics and the Women in Technology groups and she is looking forward to the CUWiP event!

Qiong Ma

Qiong Ma (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Boston College. Her research primarily focuses on the exploration of two-dimensional and topological quantum materials. Through the utilization of advanced nano-device fabrication techniques, low-temperature electronic transport measurements, and nonlinear optoelectronic microscopies, her group investigates the fundamental physics underlying these materials. Furthermore, she currently leads the Women in Physics group at Boston College and is excited about the upcoming Boston College / Wellesley CUWiP event for this year.

Michael J. Graf

Michael Graf (he/him) is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics at Boston College. His research centers on probing the properties of novel electronic and magnetic materials via muon spin spectroscopy. In recent years his teaching has focused on introductory physics for both science and non-science majors, and he led the initiative to create Boston College’s new Applied Physics B.S. program.After receiving his B.S. degree in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Ph.D. degree in Physics from Brown University, he was an IBM Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT. He then came to Boston College as a faculty member. He has also held appointments as a Visiting Scientist at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, the Università di Pavia, and the École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne.

James Battat

James Battat is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Wellesley College. His research focuses on experimental astroparticle physics, including the development of neutrino detectors. Outside of work, he loves playing soccer and playing with his dog, Snickers. He is looking forward to this year’s Boston College / Wellesley CUWiP!

Laura Steinberg

Prof. Steinberg is the executive director of the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, and professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and was formerly dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University. She has worked extensively on research in infrastructure management, disaster preparedness and response, engineering education, and environmental modeling. She served on the EPA Science Advisory Board, Drinking Water Sub-Committee, and as an editor and advisory board member for Natural Hazards Review, Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the Journal of Environmental Engineering. For the American Society of Civil Engineers, she served three terms as a member of the Industry Leaders Council representing civil engineering faculty members throughout the U.S.

Jim West

Jim West is the Assistant Director, Programs for the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. Jim is charged with the design and delivery of programs for faculty and students, and manages communications. He serves as the Designated Point of Contact for Boston College’s role as an observer organization at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27). Previously, Jim worked at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Harvard School of Public Health. As a graduate student he held a range of positions at Michigan State University including serving as managing editor of the Journal of Transformative Education and as a team member of the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan collaborating on the design and delivery of leadership programs to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Kenneth S. Burch

Kenneth Burch has been a Professor of Physics at Boston College since 2014. Before arriving at BC, he was an assistant professor at the U. of Toronto for 5 years. He is a former Director’s fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he performed ultrafast spectroscopy with A. Taylor, and was a graduate student of D. Basov studying the optical properties of magnetic materials at UCSD. He has made seminal contributions to the development of novel techniques to understand and exploit quantum materials. This includes discovering the Axial Higgs Mode in a Charge Density Wave, the colossal bulk photovoltaic effect in a Weyl semimetal, modulation doping in 2D materials, fractional spin excitations in a potential Kitaev spin liquid, and he developed cutting-edge biosensors based on graphene. His group also developed a cleanroom in a glovebox where all fabrication and heterostructure preparation is performed. For his work, he was named an APS fellow, received the Lee-Asheroff-Riuchardson Prize, and the APS GMAG best dissertation award. The work also resulted in over 90 publications in high-impact journals, including: Nature, Advanced Materials, Nature Materials, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, Physical Review X, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, multiple patents, and is supported by NIH, NSF, DOE, ONR, AFOSR, ARO, BARDA, GRIP molecular and GINER Inc.

Ilija Zeljkovic

Ilija Zeljkovic is a Professor of Physics at Boston College. His research focuses on molecular beam epitaxy synthesis and nanoscale characterization of quantum materials, including correlated electron systems and topological materials. He received a B.S. in Physics and Computer Science from Washington University in St. Louis in 2007, and a Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University in 2013. He started as an Assistant Professor of Physics at Boston College in 2015.

Brian B. Zhou

Brian Zhou is an Assistant Professor of Physics at Boston College, where he leads the Quantum Spintronics Lab. Prof. Zhou’s research group focuses on utilizing atomic-scale defect centers in diamond for applications in quantum information and sensing. Recently, he is developing new approaches to utilize nitrogen-vacancy centers as sensors for the local optoelectronic and magnetic properties of two-dimensional materials.

I-See Warisa Jaidee

I was born and raised in Thailand. I love stargazing and drawing. I’m currently a third-year undergraduate, majoring in Astrophysics at Wellesley College. I’m interested in exploring the intersection of physics theory and space technology. I’m now working with Professor James Battat on Q-Pix, a 3D readout system for large-scale neutrino detectors.

Jayakrishnan M. P. Nair

Jayakrishnan M. P. Nair is a postdoctoral research fellow at Boston College. After receiving MS in Physics from IISER Thiruvananthapuram and PhD from Texas A&M University, he currently is focused on exploring cooperative quantum phenomena at the interface between quantum optics and condensed matter physics.

Alenna Streeter

I received my bachelor’s degree in Physics from the State University of New York at Geneseo in 2020. There, I gained a passion for teaching through assisting with lab courses from astronomy to digital electronics. I was introduced to experimental condensed matter physics during an REU at the University of Rochester in 2019. My research there focused on correcting defects in the crystal substrate of spin qubit quantum nanostructures. I joined Tafti Lab in 2020 to further pursue my interest in quantum materials as a Ph.D. candidate. My current research is focused on X-ray and neutron diffraction, with plans to investigate proposed Kitaev spin liquid materials, which are candidates for the realization of topological quantum computers. In my free time, I enjoy being involved in physics community outreach programs, riding horses, and eating good food.

Sarah Wells

Sarah Wells is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Boston College studying Chemistry with a double minor in Physics and Philosophy. She is currently working in Dr. Alexis Grimaud’s research lab on electrochemical synthesis of epoxides using heterogeneous catalysts under varying pH conditions.

Xinyue Zhang

Xinyue Zhang obtained her bachelor’s degree in physics from Nanjing University in 2018. Her research focuse on characterizing magnetic properties of two-dimensional materials using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamonds.