Community
Outreach Diversity Social Life Support Resources Contacts Trainings | Teaching Resources Wellness Resources
Our Department
We study the Universe both to help solve the world’s problems and to open up new frontiers of understanding for humanity. Our enterprise is inherently global: we rely on the combined efforts of people from all over the world. It is also inherently open-minded: we embrace logical inquiry and empiricism, which unite us regardless of race, gender, sexuality, disability, and religious and political beliefs. We affirm the commitment of the department to maintaining a welcoming and protected space for science and thus for everyone who joins in our shared enterprise. This community page provides contact information for faculty, staff, and students who hold departmental positions that support this mission, as well as links to UNC resources ranging from confidential support to formal investigation of problems. We welcome input on further actions we can take to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in our department and in the larger world of physics and astronomy. We also thank the many members of our department who engage daily in creating a welcoming community.
Activity tables led by the Lopez, Kannappan, and Oldenburg research groups at the UNC Science Expo exploring the optics of feathers and butterflies, making construction paper galaxies with glue and glitter, and conducting laser experiments in a box.
Outreach
Outreach is an important part of department life. The “Carolina Physics on the Road” demo show visits area schools and public events such as the annual UNC Science Expo, part of the North Carolina Science Festival. With support from the Stirling Foundation, the department hosts Science is Awesome Day in which hundreds of local fourth-graders from Title IX public schools visit for a day-long field trip supporting NC curricular standards Most Friday evenings, astronomers staff the Morehead Observatory Guest Night, offering fascinating presentations and an opportunity to look through the telescope. The online Skynet control system enables anyone to take an astronomical image using one of many remotely controlled telescopes linked into its worldwide education and research network. Research groups, student groups, and individuals give outreach talks and host activity tables at schools, museums, and special events such as the department’s SHAPE symposium for high school physics teachers, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences “Astronomy Days”, and the Women and Math Program’s Marjorie Lee Browne Day. We also welcome visitors into our labs for tours and sometimes research experiences, through the Carolina ADMIRES program for high school students and two summer programs, a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at TUNL and a Computational Astronomy and Physics Summer Boot Camp (CAP).
Diversity
Creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all is key to the mission of the department. Our community is culturally diverse, with students from all over the world and an international faculty representing North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Our faculty is over 20% female (40-50% at the assistant/associate professor level), representing significant recent improvement over the national norm. Nonetheless, like other physics departments, we still have work to do to improve the representation of women and minorities at all levels. We have committed to a sustained effort to remove barriers to success in our department, through self-education about best practices in admissions, hiring, mentoring, teaching, and review/promotion. After reforming our graduate admissions and mentoring, we were selected as an APS Bridge Program Partnership Institution in 2016, and this year we will further modernize our graduate course and exam structure. At the undergraduate level, we are engaged in a continual effort to improve advising, webpages, and other forms of communication, to equalize access to opportunities, mentoring, and networking. Self-education is important to our continued improvement, and in recent years many of our faculty and students have been exposed to materials on unconscious bias, test anxiety, the impostor syndrome, and microaggressions. So far this year we have held department-wide workshops on sexual harassment and LGBTQ sensitivity, and 22 members of the department are now official Safe Zone allies. Additional events focused on community dialogue are planned.” The Diversity Committee will also continue to work on expanding unconscious bias training and implementation of best practices in the realm of faculty and staff hiring, mentoring, and review/promotion.
Social Life
The department social committee organizes six department-wide events: a welcome back picnic, Halloween party, holiday party, winter party, spring picnic, and summer happy hour to celebrate the first-year graduate students’ ascension. Additional social gatherings include special staff events, undergraduate club activities for Visibility in Physics at UNC and the Society of Physics Students, and graduate student outings including an annual trip to Kerr Lake. If you’re new to the department, please ask the Director of Undergraduate or Graduate Studies (as appropriate) and also staff in the main office to be added to all relevant department listservs so you’ll be in the loop about upcoming events. Also, reach out to the contacts below so we know to look out for you!
Faculty, staff, grad and undergrad students dressed in Hawaiian leis for the winter party and wacky costumes for Halloween. Watch out for Duane Deardorff juggling on stilts!
Support Resources
- Wellness resources curated by the Physics and Astronomy Diversity Committee, including UNC’s Heels Care Network.
- Diversity and Multicultural Affairs (office that coordinates many campus diversity efforts)
- Graduate Student Diversity and Student Success (summary of diversity programs and opportunities for graduate students)
- Student Success (resources to support undergraduates, with dedicated sections for transfer and first generation students)
- Student Veterans Resources (resources for military veterans)
- The Learning Center (services to help students succeed academically, including test anxiety info; see also this)
- Accessibility Resources and Service (resources for students with physical or learning disabilities)
- SAFE (resources for dealing with discrimination, harassment, violence, and stalking — for example, the Gender Violence Service Coordinators)
- Counseling and Psychological Services (mental health counseling). For more options, see our Wellness Resources page.
- Dean of Students Care Team Referral (request help for a student you’re concerned about — non-confidential)
- University Ombuds Office (completely confidential resource for discussing any type of problem)
- Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office (private but non-confidential reporting of violations, trainings, etc.)
- UndocuCarolina (support and resources for DACA and undocumented members of the Carolina community)
- On-Campus Community Food Pantry (if you are experiencing food insecurity)
- PDF Guide to Housing and Homelessness in Orange County, NC (if you are experiencing housing insecurity)
Contacts
Diversity Committee Members
- Akaa Daniel Ayangeakaa, ayangeak@unc.edu
- Tamara Branca, Director of Undergraduate Studies, rtbranca@physics.unc.edu
- Shane Brogan, Staff Diversity Liaison, brogshan@physics.unc.edu
- Halona Dantes, Undergraduate Diversity Liaison, Visibility in Physics
- Joaquín Drut, Associate Chair for Diversity and Mentoring (committee chair), drut@email.unc.edu
- Julieta Gruszko, Faculty Diversity Liaison, jgruszko@unc.edu
- Zack Hall, Graduate Student Diversity Liaison, zhall3@live.unc.edu
- Fabian Heitsch, Director of Graduate Studies, fheitsch@physics.unc.edu
- Xavier James, Graduate Student Diversity Liaison, xavierk@live.unc.edu
- Robert Janssens, rvfj@email.unc.edu
- Sheila Kannappan, APS Bridge Partnership Chair, Visibility in Physics Co-Advisor, sheila@physics.unc.edu
- Melissa Kissling, Undergraduate Diversity Liaison, Visibility in Physics
- Xiao-Ming Porter, Undergraduate Diversity Liaison and President, Visibility in Physics
- Jennifer Weinberg-Wolf, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies, Visibility in Physics Co-Advisor, jweinber@physics.unc.edu
Many members of the Diversity Committee have participated in a Hollaback Bystander Intervention training and we are working to provide a customized bystander intervention training opportunity for the department. Each member of the Diversity Committee is ready to hear from and try to help anyone who is experiencing identity-related stress in our department.
Additional Contacts
- Duane Deardorff, Director of Undergraduate Laboratories, deardorf@email.unc.edu
- Frank Tsui, Chair of the Department, ftsui@physics.unc.edu
- Visibility in Physics
Physics and Astronomy Undergraduate Academic Advising (scroll to bottom of page)
Physics and Astronomy Graduate Student Association (e.g., President, Social Officers)
Note regarding confidentiality: Certain employees of the university, such as the Department Chair and Associate Chairs, are required to report certain violations (e.g., Title IX) if they become aware of them. If you wish to discuss a concern confidentially and are not ready to report it officially, please ask the person you are approaching what they can keep in confidence.
Trainings
Many members of our department have taken trainings to help them provide support and resources related to different topics. All of these people are willing to serve as allies. For faculty and staff allies, please see the contact information listed below. For student allies, please contact Maggie Jensen (listed below) who maintains a database of their trainings and contact information. Please be aware that some faculty and staff are designated as Responsible Employees by the University which means they are mandated reporters so any disclosures can’t be held in complete confidence. Known responsible employees are labeled with an *asterisk, but these designations can change so please ask the person to be sure.
| Name | Training(s) | Preferred Contact |
| Daniel Ayangeakaa | Haven, Mental Health First Aid | ayangeak@unc.edu |
| Gökçe Basar | Haven | gbasar@email.unc.edu |
| Tamara Branca | Safe Zone, Haven, Mental Health First Aid | rtbranca@unc.edu |
| Shane Brogan | Green Zone, Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone | brogshan@physics.unc.edu |
| Gerald Cecil | Green Zone, Haven | cecil@physics.unc.edu |
| Art Champagne | Haven | artc@physics.unc.edu |
| Alice Churukian | Haven, Safe Zone | adchurukian@unc.edu |
| Duane Deardorff * | Haven, Safe Zone, Mental Health First Aid | 919-962-3013 |
| Louise Dolan | Haven | ldolan@physics.unc.edu |
| Joaquin Drut * | Haven | drut@email.unc.edu |
| Gina Elmore | Mental Health First Aid | gelmore@email.unc.edu |
| Jon Engel * | Haven, Mental Health First Aid | engelj@physics.unc.edu |
| Adrienne Erickcek * | Haven, Safe Zone, Mental Health First Aid | erickcek@physics.unc.edu |
| Mike Falvo | Haven | falvo@physics.unc.edu |
| Julieta Gruszko * | Haven, Safe Zone, Mental Health First Aid | jgruszko@unc.edu |
| Fabian Heitsch * | Green Zone, Haven, Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone | fheitsch@unc.edu |
| Reyco Henning | Haven, Mental Health First Aid | rhenning@unc.edu |
| Patina Herring | Mental Health First Aid | paherrin@live.unc.edu |
| David Hill | Haven | david_b_hill@med.unc.edu |
| Christian Iliadis * | Haven | iliadis@physics.unc.edu |
| Robert Janssens | Haven | rvfj@email.unc.edu |
| Stefan Jeglinski * | Haven | jeglin@physics.unc.edu |
| Maggie Jensen | Carolina Firsts, GreenZone, Haven, Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone, UndocuCarolina | mejensen@email.unc.edu, 919-962-7173 |
| Sheila Kannappan * | Haven, Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone | sheila@physics.unc.edu |
| Dmitri Khveshchenko | Haven | khvesh@email.unc.edu |
| Rene Lopez | Haven | rln@email.unc.edu |
| Andrew Mann * | Haven, Safe Zone | awmann@unc.edu |
| Laurie McNeil | Haven, Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone | mcneil@physics.unc.edu |
| Jack Ng | Haven | yjng@physics.unc.edu |
| Amy Nicholson * | Haven, Safe Zone, Mental Health First Aid | annichol@email.unc.edu |
| Nicolas Pegard * | Haven | pegard@unc.edu |
| Rich Superfine | Haven, Safe Zone | rsuper@physics.unc.edu |
| Frank Tsui * | Haven | ftsui@physics.unc.edu |
| Colin Wallace | Haven, Mental Health First Aid | cswphys@email.unc.edu |
| Sean Washburn * | Green Zone, Safe Zone | sean@physics.unc.edu |
| Jen Weinberg-Wolf * | Carolina Firsts, Green Zone, Haven, Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone, UnDocuCarolina | jweinber@physics.unc.edu |
| John Wilkerson * | Haven, Mental Health First Aid | jfw@unc.edu |
| Tiffany Woodall | Mental Health First Aid | tiffw@unc.edu |
| Yue Wu * | Haven | yuewu@email.unc.edu |
| Dan Young | Haven | dyoung4@email.unc.edu |
| Otto Zhou * | Haven | zhou@email.unc.edu |