I joined sPHENIX in 2019 as a postdoc at Los Alamos. I was transferred to BNL in 2022 and joined MIT for my second postdoc in the summer of that year.

What is the focus of your work on the sPHENIX experiment?

My main projects just now are preparing the MVTX to be reinstalled and operational for our next run, the charged particle pseudorapidity yield analysis with Run 23 INTT data and developing a clustering algorithm for the MVTX that runs directly on a FELIX card.

Where were you born and what is your educational background before your current position?

I was born in Scotland. I studied for my master’s at the University of Edinburgh and got my PhD from the University of Glasgow.

What is the title of your Ph.D. or tentative title? Awards or biggest talk highlight?

My PhD title was "Time dependent studies of B->h+h'- decays, and research and operation for the VELO project at LHCb". I received a RHIC & AGS merit award in 2021 and my biggest talk highlight was giving the heavy flavor overview talk at Quark Matter 2023.

How did you decide to go into heavy ion or spin research?

I actually ended up in heavy ion physics due to my background in silicon detectors. I had just finished my PhD in particle physics when a job opening appeared at Los Alamos where they were working on LHCb and developing a new silicon vertexer for an upcoming experiment at RHIC.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Depending on the season, I like to hike or go skiing so living in Santa Fe was great for me. I also go to a huge variety of concerts, and try to find local breweries in all the towns and cities I visit.

Fun fact?

Even though I said I like to ski, I seem to be bad at it as I've broken several bones and crashed into many trees over the years.