Greetings,
It's our first newsletter of 2021! We hope the holidays were enjoyable, safe, and perhaps provided a chance to reflect on a year like no other, and to look ahead to what the new year might have in store.
We have a full slate of virtual programming this week. There is something for everyone, so we hope you'll join us!
Also, a reminder to join and check out the Canadian Astroparticle Physics LinkedIn Group. The group is open to anyone involved in the Canadian astroparticle physics community and aims to provide a forum where people can ask questions and have discussions about the various aspects of studying, working, and researching in the field.
Do you have some astroparticle physics news or would like to do a write-up on a recent result or publication? Get in touch and we'll make sure that the community gets to hear your story!
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Announcements:
Tammy Eger joins the McDonald Institute Board of Governance.
Nahee Park: New Faculty (Experimental Particle Astrophysics) at Queen’s University.
Dr. Park is a member of several international collaborations, including HELIX (for cosmic rays), VERITAS (for gamma rays), P-ONE, Ice Cube, and IceCube-Gen2 (for neutrinos). She is working to analyze data from existing experiments and is developing new detector technology to enable the next generation of high energy cosmic ray experiments.
Note: Dr. Park is currently seeking a graduate student to start in September 2021. Anyone interested should contact her directly at nahee.park@queensu.ca.
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Gender Minorities in Physics group launches at Queen's
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With these resources, GEMINI-P hopes to support several initiatives, including a mentorship program for senior undergraduate and junior graduate students, a speaker series on topics relevant to the group's interests, and promoting underrepresented groups' scientific work. The monthly Round Table Discussions (Wednesdays at 1:30 pm) will also continue. These will cover subjects with a specific focus on examining and eliminating the barriers facing gender minorities and general interest and personal wellbeing topics.
All members of the Queen's physics community are welcome to attend these discussions. As the group becomes established, GEMINI-P also plans to create digital content and collaborate with other campus groups to promote shared goals. If you're interested in joining the group or have suggestions and thoughts to share, you can contact the organizers at: gemini-p@queensu.ca
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Celebrating Black History Month in February |
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Recognizing the presence of Black researchers in astroparticle physics is a necessary step in building an inclusive and welcoming community. This February we will take the opportunity to discover and share the many contributions of Black researchers to the field. Most of our activity will be on Twitter, so feel free to follow us.
One of Essence Magazine's "15 Black Women Who Are Paving the Way in STEM and Breaking Barriers," Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, has authored a new book exploring dark-matter theoretical physics as well as the role of racism in science's social epistemology. "The Disordered Cosmos" is available for preorder for March 9 release.
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McDonald Institute Publication Page - Searchable and Dynamic |
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As our community continues to make incredible contributions to the global APP body of work, this list will continue to grow and change.
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Watch the NEWS-G detector being built!
Last month, we were excited to provide an update on the installation of the NEWS-G detector installation at SNOLAB.
The NEWS-G team surprised us with this lovely 44-second time-lapse video of the work, and we just had to share it in the newsletter.
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The exhibition Drift: Art and Dark Matter opening soon!
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Last month we announced that the highly anticipated Drift: Art and Dark Matter exhibition would be opening in January. As COVID-19 measures increased in Ontario, the installation of the exhibition has been delayed.
The staff at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre have been working with the artists remotely to install the artwork as intended, and videographers are standing by to capture the work. An experience of the exhibition will be available from anywhere through an online exhibition, which will be launching in February.
This promises to be an exciting artistic exploration of dark matter science, so stay tuned!
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Image: Josèfa Ntjam, Organic Nebula, 2019, photomontage, mixed techniques. Collection of the artist. From the exhibition: Drift: Art and Dark Matter.
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In addition to the online exhibition, the Drift project coordinators are also developing a comprehensive and fully adaptable educational package that will be offered to grades 9-12 teachers. Provided lesson plans tell the story of the residency and encourage students to embark on an art and dark matter journey of their own, learning about physics and creating artwork that will be featured in a virtual gallery!
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CNO neutrino update
Neutrinos from the Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen (CNO) cycle are a probe for solar energy production, initial state, and metallicity.
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The gray bands compare the regions where the three solar neutrino telescopes, which are able to measure the energy of the events, are sensitive. Note that the predictions of solar models are in logarithmic scale: Super-Kamiokande and SNO can observe about 0.02% of the total, while Borexino may observe each type of predicted neutrino. (Francesco Vissani, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
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The seventh round of the HQP Pooled Resources Competition closes this week!
This competition has been split into two streams. One stream targets funding towards identified graduate students for a maximum of two years (excluding scholarships or salaries gained through teaching and research assistant positions etc.), with a start date prior to September 2021. A second stream targets undergraduate applications with a start date prior to September 2021 but does not require an identified individual. A separate set of guidelines and application forms are provided for the graduate and undergraduate streams. Funding for positions is available to those pursuing astroparticle physics research in Canada aligned with the McDonald Institute Research Strategy. This will be one of the last HQP Pooled Resources opportunities.
This will be one of the last HQP Pooled Resources opportunities. Submit your application before the deadline of January 29, 2021, 4:00 pm EDT
Resources:
Please direct all questions and submissions related to this call to:
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If you’re finishing your undergrad or Master’s degree in physics or a related discipline, consider attending this session to dive deeper into these important considerations for your future studies.
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Astronomy on Tap is back! Our next event will be free and online on Thursday, January 28th at 7:00 pm. We welcome all ages! The event will be streamed on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QBGn_C127cA.
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An OUT OF THIS WORLD Opportunity! 🌌 📡
Registration for Let's Talk Astrophysics, a FREE virtual event for Grade 11-12/CÉGEP students (ages 15-18) is OPEN! Register to learn more about galaxies, dark matter and the mysteries of our universe: https://lets-talks-astrophysics.eventbrite.ca
Registration closes February 13th –register early to secure your spot.
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Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech |
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Join us for the Perseverance touchdown!
Stay tuned! The McDonald Institute is partnering with the Queen's Observatory to host a special Live Viewing of the Perseverance Rover's landing on Mars on Feb 18th, starting around 2:30 pm. We will be joined by internal and external scientists who work with space missions, planetary geology, and more!
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SNOLAB Seminar Series
Feb. 1 Prof. Alison Lister (UBC) Dark sector at ATLAS
Feb. 8 Prof. Gwen Grinyer (Regina U.) Nuclear structure and astrophysics
Mar. 1 Dr. Javier Tiffenberg (FNAL) SENSEI experiment
Seminars are typically held on Mondays at 1:00 pm Eastern Time. For connection details, please contact Silvia Scorza at Silvia.scorza@snolab.ca.
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Submissions for The CAP PPD Thesis Award open until Feb 15th, 2021.
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Thank you for reading the whole newsletter!
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Zoom backgrounds are so 2020. This month we're bringing you the first McDonald Institute themed Snapchat filter! This also works with the Snap Camera application on your desktop computer (no SnapChat account needed). So you can show up to your next Zoom or Teams call with your face "painted" with the McDonald Institute logo!
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Thank you for your continued interest in the Canadian astroparticle physics community.
If you would like to view past newsletters from the McDonald Institute, please visit the: Newsletter Archive.
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The McDonald Institute at Queen’s University is situated in the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe & Haudenosaunee First Nations. The Institute is part of a national network of institutions and research centres, which operate in other traditional Indigenous territories. Visit www.whose.land to learn the traditional territories where astroparticle physicists are grateful to live and work across Canada.
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