Dr. Emily Grace Assistant Professor of Physics; Engineering Liaison Officer
Education:
Ph.D., Royal Holloway University of London
M.S.Ed., Indiana University South Bend
B.Sc. (Physics), Indiana University South Bend
B.A. (Psychology), Bethel College
712-707-7072
emily.grace@nwciowa.edu
SCI 231
After graduating from college with a psychology degree and excelling in a sales career, Emily Grace returned to school to pursue her first love: physics. She earned a master's degree in education and a second undergraduate degree in physics, then earned a doctorate in physics from the prestigious Royal Holloway University of London. While in the United Kingdom, she won a national contest when she wrote and performed a rap to explain her research on dark matter and liquid argon.
Since coming to Northwestern, Dr. Grace has shifted her research focus to AMO physics, biophysics, and physics pedagogy. She is passionate about giving undergraduate students the opportunities to find answers to original questions. Presently she collaborates with Dr. Karissa Carlson at Northwestern College and Dr. Eric Jones at the Laser Teaching Center at Stony Brook University, New York. She is the Principle Investigator with the Pheobe Laser Research Group and the ISLAND CURE collaboration.
Dr. Grace has been a member of the PICO, MiniCLEAN, DEAP-3600, LZ, and LUX dark matter collaborations and the Diocles Laser Research Group. She was a postdoctoral scholar at Pennsylvania State University and a research assistant at Royal Holloway University of London, the University of Nebraska and Indiana University, as well as a visiting lecturer at Royal Holloway. Prior to joining Northwestern's faculty, she was an assistant professor at Sterling College in Kansas.
PHY111SN - General Physics
(4 credits) (NWCore option under Science and the Natural World) This is the first in a two-course algebra-based sequence. Topics include kinematics, Newtonian mechanics, energy, momentum, gravity, atomic physics, thermodynamics, and simple harmonic oscillations. Prerequisite: C- or higher in MAT109QR, ACT math score of 24 or better (SAT 570 or above), or consentof the department chair.Note: There is a laboratory component to this course.
PHY112 - General Physics II
(4 credits) This is the second in a two-course algebra-based sequence. Topics include electricity, magnetism, electromagnetic waves, electromagnetism, and optics. Prerequisite: successful completion of PHY111SN with a grade of C- or better,or consent of department chair. Note: There is a laboratory component to this course.
PHY150 - Introduction to Astronomy
(3 credits; alternate years, consult department) This course covers several topics in the field of astronomy chosen from oursolar system, stellar lifecycle, astronomical observations and measurements, and a basic introduction to cosmology and relativity. The basic tools, concepts, physics, and mathematical models in astronomy are discussed. Students are expected to be able to articulate a Christian perspective of our place in the universe. Prerequisites: C- or higher in MAT109QR orMAT127, ACT math score of 22 (SAT 520) or above, or permission of instructor.Note: There is no laboratory component to this course, and it does not count as an option under Science and the Natural World. However, the course does count toward the Elementary and Secondary Endorsements in Basic Science.
PHY160SN - Astronomy
(4 credits) (NWCore option under Science and the Natural World) This course covers several topics in the field of astronomy chosen from our solar system, stellar lifecycle, astronomical observations and measurements, and a basic introduction to cosmology and relativity. The basic tools, concepts, physics, and mathematical models in astronomy are discussed. Students are expected to be able to articulate a Christian perspective on our place in the universe. Prerequisite: C- or higher in either MAT109QR or MAT127, or ACT math score of 22 or above (SAT 550 or above) or permission of instructor. Note: There is a laboratory/observation component to this course.
PHY211SN - Classical Physics I
(4 credits) (NWCore option under Science and the Natural World) This is the first in a two-course calculus-based sequence. Topics include kinematics, Newtonian mechanics, energy, momentum, gravity, atomic physics, thermodynamics, and simple harmonic oscillations. Prerequisite: C- or higher in MAT112QR or consent of the department chair. Note: There is a laboratory component to this course.
PHY212 - Classical Physics II
(4 credits) This is the second in a two-course calculus-based sequence. Topics include electricity, magnetism, electromagnetic waves, electromagnetism, and optics. Prerequisite: successful completion of PHY211SN with a grade of C- or better. Note: There is a laboratory component to this course.
PHY350 - Fundamentals of Optics
(4 credits; alternate years, consult department) This course will cover an introduction to classical and modern theories in optics and their applications. Students will learn topics in geometric optics including lens, ray tracing, reflection, and refraction and in physical optics including interference, diffraction, polarization, and lasers. Prerequisites: C- or higher in PHY212 and MAT211, or permission of instructor.
PHY370 - Modern Physics
(4 credits, alternate years, consult department). An introduction to the physics of the 20th century. Topics include specialrelativity, introduction to quantum theory, Schrodinger equation, the hydrogen atom, and many-electron atoms. Prerequisites: successful completion of PHY212 & MAT211 with grades of C- or higher, or permission of departmentchair.Note: There is a laboratory component to this course.
PHY450 - Biophysics
(4 credits; alternate years, consult department) Biophysics utilizes analytical problem solving skills cultivated through the study of physics and mathematics to describe theoretically the mechanisms of biological processes. Students will learn to analyze biological data using MatLab. This course is intended to be taken by Biophysics majors towards the end of their program of study. Prerequisites: C- or higher in PHY370, MAT317, and BIO326 or BIO327, or permission of instructor.
"Chasing Curiosity: Building an Undergraduate Physics Research Collaboration" (Invited Talk) Indiana University Physics Seminar, Nov 2022
"Faith and Science at Notre Dame: John Zahm, Evolution, and the Catholic Church", (Book Review) International Journal of Christianity and Education, July 2022
"Building the ISLAND CURE: Iowa Stony Brook Lasers ANd DNA Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience" (Invited Talk) Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Seminar at Stony Brook University, Jun 2022
“Every Life is on Fire: How Thermodynamics Explains the Origins of Living Things”, (Book Review) Christian Scholar’s Review, Feb 2022
"God Chooses the Unexpected", Firebrand Magazine, Dec 2021
"The Ravi Zacharias Scandal Gives Me Hope", Firebrand Magazine, Apr 2021
"Among Diversity Challenges, Science Textbooks Are Part of the Problem", Reformed Journal, Nov 2019
"COSMOLOGY IN THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: Understanding Our Place in the Universe", (Book Review) Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, Sep 2019
“Intellectually engaging my fundamentalist students”, Reformed Journal, Nov 2018
“Lux trigger efficiency”, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics, Nov 2018
“Incorporating Theology and Science Philosophy into the Physics Classroom”, International Journal of Christianity and Education, April 2018
“First results from the DEAP-3600 dark matter search with argon at SNOLAB”, Physical Review Letters, Aug 2018
“Design and Construction of the DEAP-3600 Dark Matter Detector”, Astroparticle Physics, Dec 2017
“Index of refraction, Rayleigh scattering, and Sellmeier coefficients in solid and liquid argon and xenon”, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics, June 2017
“Final Results of the PICASSO Dark Matter Search Experiment”, Astroparticle Physics, April 2017
“Measurement of the scintillation time spectra and pulse-shape discrimination of low energy ß and nuclear recoils in liquid argon DEAP-1”, Astroparticle Physics, September 2016
“Searching for Dark Matter with PICASSO”, Physics Procedia 61, December 2015
“Improving Photoelectron Counting and Particle Identification in Scintillation Detectors with Bayesian Techniques”, Astroparticle Physics, January 2015
“Update on the MiniCLEAN Dark Matter Experiment”, Physics Procedia 61, January 2015
“Constraints on Low-Mass WIMP Interaction on 19F from PICASSO”, Physics Letters B February 2013
“Density Characterization of Tapered Super-Sonic Gas Jet Targets for Laser Wakefield Acceleration”, APS, 54th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics
“First dark matter search results from a 4-kg CF3I bubble chamber operated in a deep underground site”, Physics Review D September 2012
“Dark matter search with the PICASSO experiment”, The 4th International Conference Current Problems in Nuclear Physics and Atomic Energy, September 2012
Postdoctoral Scholar, Penn State University
Assistant Professor, Sterling College
Postgraduate Research Studentship, Royal Holloway University of London
Research Assistantship, University of Nebraska
Research Assistantship, Indiana University South Bend
Emerging Scholars Network (ESN)
Christian Women in Science (CWIS)
American Scientific Affiliation (ASA)
American Physical Society (APS)
Iowa Academy of Science (IAS)
Visiting Scholar at the Laser Teaching Center, Stony Brook University, NY, 2022
Northwestern Summer Research Grant, 2022
APS Physics Education Research Grant, 2021
Northwestern Summer Research Grant, 2019
IOP Representative to Parliment (UK), 2015
3 Minute Wonder Competition (Science Communication) National Winner, 2013
SEPnet Ph.D. Studentship - Full Scholarship and Stipend, 2012-2018
