A panel of Princeton alumni (and current/former postdocs) will share lessons learned from their career paths, ways to self-advocate in an academic setting and how students / postdoc candidates can advance themselves professionally and navigate issues regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. Those who attend the panel are welcome to stay after for a casual lunch with the panelists.  

Drop-in office hour for students/postdocs to meet with the panelists:
Ayana Arce, Duke                                                1:30 pm – 2:30 pm, Jadwin 393
Zoe Yan, U. Chicago                                            1:30 pm – 2:30 pm, Jadwin 301
Alejandro Cárdenas-Avendaño, Princeton        2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, Jadwin 467
Arielle Phillips, Notre Dame                                2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, Peyton 140
Kris Pardo, USC-Dornsife                                    3:00 pm – 4:00 pm, Peyton 140
Jamila Pegues, STScI                                          4:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Peyton 140

Panelists	Biography (brief)
Ayana Arce (she/her) Associate Professor, Duke	Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) attempt to clarify the roles of fundamental particles in the evolution and composition of the universe, by measuring the way they interact at the smallest accessible scales. Professor Arce uses the ATLAS detector at the LHC to study the rich phenomenology of energetic, strongly interacting systems, and uses these systems to test models of new particles and interactions. (Ph.D. Harvard 2006, B.S. Princeton 1998).
Alejandro Cárdenas-Avendaño (he/him/his) Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University	As a theoretical astrophysicist, Alejandro studies signatures of Einstein's theory of general relativity and some of its extensions on astrophysical phenomena. Currently serving as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University's Gravity Initiative, his work is devoted to extracting fundamental physics properties from the photon rings of black holes and investigating specific aspects of turbulent dynamics within Einstein's field equations. He was born in Bogotá (Colombia), where he earned a B.Sc. in Mathematics at Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz and a B.Sc. in Physics at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, where he also acquired an M.Sc in Astronomy. Then, he moved to the US, earned an M.Sc in Physics at Montana State University, and completed his PhD at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Kris Pardo (he/him/his) Assistant Professor, USC, Dornsife	Kris Pardo works on developing tests of fundamental physics with astrophysical data. Most of his recent work has focused on new gravitational wave and dark matter detection methods. Professor Pardo earned his BSc from Furman University, and his PhD from Princeton. He was a postdoc at JPL and Caltech before joining the faculty at USC in January 2023. (PhD in Astrophysical Sciences from Princeton).
Jamila Pegues  (she/her/hers) Postdoctoral Fellow, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)	Jamila Pegues joined STScI as an STScI Postdoctoral Fellow in September 2021, after receiving her PhD in May 2021. As a fellow, she spends 50% of her time conducting independent research, and the other 50% of her time in functional support of STScI's missions. Her research focuses on chemistry in protoplanetary disks, which are the precursors of exoplanetary systems (like our own Solar System!). Dr. Pegues is especially interested in how protoplanetary disk chemistry varies with the host star, from cool, low-mass M-stars all the way up to bright, hot, massive Herbig Ae stars. To investigate this chemistry, she conducts observational surveys and runs astrochemical disk models around a variety of young stars. PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics - Harvard University, MS in Computational Science and Engineering - Harvard University, BA in Astrophysical Sciences from Princeton, Certificates in Robotics and Intelligent Systems and in Applications of Computing from Princeton.
Arielle Phillips (she/hers) Assoc. Dean of Collegiate Affairs, Assoc. Professor of Astrophysics, Notre Dame	Arielle Phillips, a computational astrophysicist, studies the largest structures in the universe and the interplay of galaxies with the cosmic web they form to probe large scale structure cosmology and environment dependent galaxy evolution. Part of the Moreau College Initiative, she has pioneered Physics courses and labs in a liberal arts program for incarcerated individuals. Her interdisciplinary efforts to involve the broader public in science have reached thousands. As Associate Dean for Collegiate Affairs, Professor Phillips oversees the Collegiate Majors, the Study Abroad program, and cross-campus partnerships with an emphasis on the professional development of young scientists. Phillips is associate professor of the practice of astrophysics and cosmology theory in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. She received her B.Sc. with honors from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and her Ph.D. from Princeton University. She joined the University of Notre Dame in 2009.
Zoe Yan (she/hers) Assistant Professor, U. Chicago	Zoe Yan studies experimental quantum many-body physics, using the platforms of ultracold atoms and molecules. Her experiments combine cutting-edge technologies in trapping and imaging quantum particles and tailoring their interactions to realize custom Hamiltonians. Before joining UChicago, Zoe was a Dicke Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University. She earned her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her B.S. with honors in physics from Stanford University

To request accommodations for a disability, please contact Jennifer Bornkamp [email protected] at least one week prior to the event.