Laboratory
Supervisor
I
graduated from Washington University in 1989 with bachelor's degrees
in both Physics and English Literature. While there, I worked
with Mark Conradi to study solid hydrogen-deuteride using NMR
techniques. I then went to DePaul University where I studied both
physics and science education. My masters thesis work under Richard
DeCoster looked for connections between the particle behavior
in the plasma-sheet boundary layer of the earth's magnetotail
and the magnetic storm activity measured at circum-polar monitoring
stations. The data was taken from Van Allen's group at the University
of Iowa. After receiving my MS in 1991, I taught at Lincoln Land
Community College and Elmhurst College.
I have been a member of the Marquette University Physics Faculty
for the past 12 years, joining the Department in June of 1992.
During that time, I have worked to update both the equipment and
the pedagogy of the introductory physics laboratories – a never
ending process! In addition to my primary focus on the introductory
physics sequences (001-002, 003-004, and 013-014), I have also
worked with pre-service and in-service science teachers. I have
also worked with junior high and high school students through
the Upward Bound program here at Marquette and through the College
for Kids program at UWM. I also coordinate the Traveling Trebuchet
Road Show, a physics and history outreach program using model
siege weapons.
The small trebuchet (counter-weight driven catapult) has a 1.0
m throwing arm and launches bean bags 20 m and base balls 40 m.
The larger treb has a 10.0 ft throwing arm and launches bags of
birdseed 50 m and 2L bottles of soda ~200m! The trebuchets were
a joint project between the Society of Physics Students and the
Marquette Medieval Society, for which I am the faculty advisor.
Students from both groups travel with the trebuchet to area schools
to give presentations on the history and physics associated with
the machine. In January, 2004, two members of the trebuchet team
traveled to the National Meeting of the American Association of
Physics Teachers to present a poster on the project.
Teaching Fields
- Introductory Physics
- Undergraduate Physics Laboratories
- Physics Pedagogy
Office
Location & Contact
Office
Hours
Teaching
Schedule
