Summary: Strong AMO/ultracold-atom program (Saffman's neutral-atom qubit/sensing arrays) and ties to the Wisconsin Quantum Institute.
Notes: Excellent lakeside quality of life; consistently rated a top mid-size city for young researchers.
Warnings: Cold, long winters; relatively isolated from other major quantum hubs (nearest big airport is Chicago, 2.5 hrs).
Observational cosmologist studying distant galaxies and supermassive black holes across X-ray, optical, near-IR, submillimeter, and radio wavelengths, tracing star formation and accretion histories of the universe.
Observational exoplanet astronomer using ground- and space-based facilities (including HST and JWST) to characterize exoplanet atmospheres and compositions.
Observational cosmologist working on the Dark Energy Survey and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory/LSST, using wide-field optical imaging to study dark energy, dark matter, and dwarf galaxies; involved in survey instrumentation and analysis pipelines.
Studies planetary dynamics and exoplanetary system architectures, combining theoretical dynamical modeling with observational discovery of exoplanets; 2026 AAS DDA Vera Rubin Early Career Prize recipient.
Studies the global structure of the Milky Way (bulge, bar, disk, spiral arms) using infrared and radio observations of stars and gas, and the evolution of galaxy groups via radio observations.
Builds astronomical spectroscopic instrumentation and studies galaxy structure, dynamics, and evolution via integral field spectroscopy (e.g., SDSS-IV MaNGA); leads WIYN telescope instrumentation efforts.
Develops second- and third-harmonic generation (SHG/THG) nonlinear optical microscopy to image collagen and other non-centrosymmetric structural proteins label-free in tissue, with applications to cancer diagnosis and fibrosis, pushing spatial/orientational resolution of structural imaging in intact tissue.
Studies co-translational protein folding using time-resolved single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy synergistically combined with NMR and single-particle cryo-EM.
Develops quantum sensors based on neutral atoms and solid-state atom-like defects (e.g. NV diamond) for measuring inertial forces, magnetic fields, and time, and applies nanophotonics/nanofabrication to improve the size, weight, and performance of quantum sensing instruments; collaborates with Mikhail Kats on metasurface-enhanced atomic magnetometers.
Develops biophotonics and optical instrumentation for live-cell and cancer imaging, including multiphoton microscopy, image informatics, and quantitative image analysis tools; affiliated with the Morgridge Institute for Research.