Kristin Poduska
Physics Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Abstract

Even though large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies are not yet well-developed and bring a range of risks, they are also recognized as an integral part of any strategy to successfully limit global warming. In this context, I will provide a brief overview of several high-profile climate policy documents [1-3] that describe the current state of CDR technologies, and highlight specific identified challenges where materials physics could help advance CDR solutions. Following this, I will show examples from my own research program that aim to train physics students within multidisciplinary collaborations that focus on linking fundamental science with the development of regionally appropriate CDR strategies. Multidisciplinarity is key because science and technology alone aren’t enough for success: effective policies, economics, and public engagement are also essential for mitigating climate change.

[1] IPCC, Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by H. Lee and J. Romero (IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 184 pp., 2023). DOI:10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647

[2] Washington Taylor, Brad Marston, Robert Rosner, and Jonathan Wurtele, PRX Energy 4, 017001 (2025). DOI: PRXEnergy.4.017001

[3] US Department of Energy Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences Roundtable, Foundational Science for Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies (Washington, D.C., USA, 4 pp., 2022). DOI: 10.2172/1868525

Timbits, coffee, tea will be served in STI A before the colloquium.

Rowan Thomson
Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair,
Department of Physics at Carleton University

Abstract

As physicists, we research how to characterize changes in patterns across time and space. In medical physics, we devise new Monte Carlo algorithms to achieve more accurate absorbed dose distributions in realistic patient models: how can we characterize differences in 3D spatial distributions of dose compared with traditional evaluations? On shorter length scales, simulations of radiation interactions in detailed microscopic tissue models enable new evaluations of 3D microdosimetric distributions: how can we characterize these spatial patterns of energy deposition and connect with cellular response to radiation? Across science, there are efforts to address the challenges of equity, diversity, and inclusion: how do we assess changes with time? This colloquium will focus on research to quantify changes in – sometimes disparate – patterns in time and space.

Timbits, coffee, tea will be served in STI A before the colloquium.

Natasha Holmes
Cornell University

Abstract

Educational innovation is pushing towards providing students with authentic learning experiences. But what counts as authentic? In this talk, I’ll discuss the various ways we’ve been conceptualizing authenticity in introductory physics labs, from simulating authentic practice to embedding the lab exercises in more advanced physics topics, such as particle physics and active matter. We’ll discuss preliminary data about student learning and perceptions and explore future research questions.

Timbits, coffee, tea will be served in STI A before the colloquium.

Angela Lyon (Patent Agent) and Jason Hendry (Commercialization Director)
Queen’s Partnerships and Innovation

Abstract

Did you know that innovations at Queen's have generated millions of dollars for the university? Angela Lyon (Patent Agent) will provide an overview of the patent process that was key for Queen's-based research to have commercial success, and Jason Hendry (Commercialization Director) will tell us about how market-focused research improves is chance of commercial success. Both Angela and Jason will describe how their work at Queen's Partnerships and Innovation (QPI) can support researchers in Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy to leverage their work at Queen's to impact communities around the world. Angela and Jason will also be available after the colloquium in the lounge to meet with people interested in discussing how QPI might support the commercialization of their work. QPI is sponsoring food in the lounge.

Timbits, coffee, tea will be served in STI A before the colloquium.

Abstract

Timbits, coffee, tea will be served in STI A before the colloquium.

Jeff Lundeen
Nexus for Quantum Technology, Physics Department, University of Ottawa

Abstract

Imaging is one of the oldest and most applied of the sciences, dating back at least two millennia to the first lenses and Euclid’s Optics. Until recently, most if not all optical elements, such as lenses, diffraction gratings and phase plates, have functioned by acting on a photon’s position. In contrast, this talk will describe our experiments that rely on a photon’s momentum, i.e. its angle, to create novel types of imaging systems. For example, we have used photon pairs that are quantum-entangled in momentum to image in the presence of turbulence, background light, and even without aiming a camera at the object. For single photons, I will show that through controlling momentum one can create arbitrary optical transformations, including that of free-space itself. The latter effectively compresses optical propagation into a thin plate, a device we call a "spaceplate". If perfected, spaceplates could one day replace the space between a lens and the imaging sensor, enabling flat thin cameras. I will finish by outlining prospects for even more exotic and useful imaging systems that function by acting on a photon’s momentum.

Biography

Dr. Jeff Lundeen's experimental and theoretical research uses individual particles of light, photons, to test and apply ideas from quantum physics. He is an Associate Professor in the Physics Dept. of the University of Ottawa. He did an undergraduate degree in physics at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. After, he did a MSc and PhD with Dr. Aephraim Steinberg at the University of in experimental quantum optics and quantum information. As a Postdoctoral Fellow, he did experimental research in the group of Prof. Ian Walmsely at the Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford. He returned to Canada and became a staff scientist in optical metrology at the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada. In 2013, he joined the University of Ottawa.

Jeff was also a Tier II CRC in Quantum Photonics for ten years and is the Director of the UOttawa Institute, Nexus for Quantum Technologies. 

Timbits, coffee, tea will be served in STI A before the colloquium.

Cristiano Galbiati
Princeton University

Abstract

I will present how the field of investigations in neutrinos and dark matter has evolved in the past 30 years, contributing major discoveries and building a strong base for future advancements in our understanding of the Universe. I will present a look at results from the solar neutrino experiment Borexino, which performed a detailed measurement of the entire neutrino spectrum with an organic liquid scintillator target.  I will discuss status and prospects of the ongoing search for the discovery of dark matter with the DarkSide program. I will detail the impact of the technological innovations introduced for the DarkSide project in the search for neutrinoless double beta decay.

Burcin Mutlu-Pakdi
Dartmouth College

Abstract

The smallest and faintest galaxies around the Milky Way are the most ancient, most metal-poor, and most dark-matter-dominated systems known. These extreme objects offer unique access to small scales where the stellar and dark matter content can be studied simultaneously. They hold the promise of major breakthroughs in understanding the nature of dark matter and a more complete picture of galaxy formation. Thus, their discovery and characterization are among the most important goals in the field. In this talk, I will share our ongoing observational efforts to detect these faint systems around the Milky Way and beyond, and upcoming advances in the era of deep and wide imaging instrumentation, with a focus on their implications.

Timbits, coffee, tea will be served in STI A before the colloquium.