USD’s outstanding work in physics and biophysics

Student and professor awarded at American Physical Society (APS) March meeting

Lauren Ceballos / Feature Editor / The USD Vista

During spring break, USD sent representatives of the physics department for the school to the 2023 American Physical Society (APS) March Meeting, which took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from Mar. 5-10. Two of the attendees included undergraduates Maya Nugent, who ran a poster session for her research and Professor Rae Robertson-Anderson.

At the Conference, Dr. Robertson-Anderson and USD junior Maya Nugent were both awarded for their excellence in physics and biophysics. 

Nugent is part of a joint lab with Dr. Robertson-Anderson and Dr. Ryan Mcgordy, working directly under Dr. Robertson-Anderson and most closely with post-baccalaureate Gregor Leech, USD class of ‘22.

Nugent was awarded not only for her three-hour poster session, but also her ability to communicate her research for her fellow conference attendees and judges.

Nugent explained her experience as a contestant.

“There was a group of judges who were going around to all of the posters and you didn’t know who they were; they were just kinda walking through, hidden, asking questions,” Nugent said.

Nugent is currently a biophysics major, which is an interdisciplinary field that is a combination of physics, math and chemistry. 

Dr. Robertson-Anderson applauded Nugent for her understanding of her work.

“Poster awards are not just [about] how cool of a science, but also how well you articulate it, so she was able to very clearly explain her work… And she was the only [USD] undergraduate [to be recognized with an award].”

Throughout her poster session, Nugent answered questions about her research and shared her reaction to receiving the award.

 “I was shocked, because I wasn’t really expecting to win, but then I got really excited about it and the other three girls who all won were grad students…The people who I was talking to at this conference were all graduate students, there were very few undergrads, and so that was very cool to have this opportunity at USD, when I still don’t even have a full degree in physics.”

Dr. Robertson-Anderson, a Georgetown alumna,  started as faculty at USD in 2009. Dr. Robertson-Anderson chose USD as an institution with undergraduate research with a close-knit community, where she could know all the students and have one-on-one interactions with them. She also commented that she established the biophysics major to provide a new career path in STEM at USD.

At the conference, Dr. Robertson-Anderson was awarded the Prize for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution and gave two talks at the conference. Her award was based on the culmination of all of her accolades throughout her research, as well as her research interest and research with undergraduates. 

Dr. Robertson-Anderson articulated her thoughts about going to the conference from a professor’s perspective.

“[Students had the opportunity to] practice communicating science in a way that people understand might not be in your exact field…I think the one really cool thing is a lot of people mistook them for graduate students or postdocs… giving them that kind of confidence was really cool and just getting them to see the experience [of presenting research].”

Dr. Robertson-Anderson went to her first conference through USD in 2010 and started bringing students in 2011. She explained how, even as a professor, she took  away tons of beneficial information from the conference.

“Every time I go, it’s almost just like drinking out of a fire hose… I always come back with so many ideas… It’s so energizing, invigorating.”

Dr. Robertson-Anderson related the effects of doing research at USD.

“When you’re doing research at a small university, what we’re doing is very different…and so they don’t really realize that there’s tons of people interested in the same questions we were interested in and this meeting is like all about those questions…so it’s very eye opening for students.”

Dr. Robertson-Anderson shared her initial thoughts when she received her award and was  recognized at the national level.

“I was just thrilled and just felt very humbled… Also I just feel so grateful for the students… they’re the reason I got the award… the reason I love coming to work everyday… And I just couldn’t do that without them, and they’ve taught me so much… They bring ideas that I’ve never thought of, I love each and every one of them so much, and looking back on the award, that’s what I’m very grateful for.”

Dr. Robertson-Anderson’s first talk was about how the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

“Our cells can move and divide and talk to each other… we have… all these different types of cells that all have different properties, and that’s because they’re made up of a whole bunch of different molecules that all interact… each one of those molecules by themselves, aren’t going to do a lot, but together they are much more than the sum of their parts… bringing things together that aren’t normally supposed to go together, like biology and physics…very interdisciplinary,” Dr. Roberston-Anderson said.

USD not only attended the APS but also brought home the awards of Dr. Rae Robertson-Anderson for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution, and Maya Nugent for her research, poster session and ability to articulate research. The pair reaped the benefits of the conference and also gathered new information to continue developing the USD physics department.