Pottebaum featured in “Amazing Iowa Scientists” book
Image courtesy of E. Pottebaum.
Wright Lab graduate student Emily Pottebaum is featured in a new book called “Amazing Iowa Scientists,” published in 2026 by Past Present Future (PPF) Publishing.
The third book in the Amazing Iowa Series by Katy Swalwell, “Amazing Iowa Scientists” celebrates the incredible ingenuity, curiosity, and contributions of Iowans in scientific fields from astronomy to zoology. Vibrant portraits created by Iowa artists accompany short biographies of these fascinating people from different backgrounds, eras, and regions of the state.
Pottebaum’s spread includes an artistic portrait illustrated by Rachel Buse, content about Pottebaum’s background and current research endeavors in experimental nuclear physics, and a spotlight on James van Allen, another famous Iowa physicist. van Allen is most known for developing instrumentation to study cosmic rays, which led to the discovery of what are now called van Allen Belts—two donut-shaped rings of energetic, charged particles that are trapped by Earth’s magnetic fields and encircle the Equator.
Pottebaum said, “There are kids in Iowa who will open this book and see a scientist they can relate to for the very first time. Those kids will grow up thinking of diversity in Iowa’s scientific community as a standard rather than an aspiration, and it’s hard to overstate how powerful that is. Katy and Jen at PPF Publishing are doing some wonderful work, and I am incredibly honored to be a part of it.”