Biographical Sketch
Morgan is a graduate student in Wright Laboratory’s Relativistic Heavy Ions Group, which studies the quark-gluon plasma created in collisions of heavy ions moving at relativistic speeds. Through studying the quark-gluon plasma, physicists seek to understand quantum chromodynamics and the processes by which matter formed in the first microseconds of the universe.
Morgan received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she first became interested in studying the quark-gluon plasma at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. She graduated summa cum laude in physics and with honors in mathematics, and was named the College of Arts and Science’s Outstanding Undergraduate.
Now, as a graduate student, she does data analysis for the ALICE Collaboration under the advisement of Professor Laura Havener. Outside of her research, she enjoys teaching and science advocacy. She is always exploring ways to make science more accessible and equitable.
Research
Morgan’s research, as part of the ALICE Collaboration, focuses on the evolution of jets in relativistic proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions. When two hard partons collide, the resulting collimated radiation (called a jet) is an excellent probe of the quark-gluon plasma. Her goal is to determine how the constituents of jets evolve over time and how the presence of a quark-gluon plasma droplet may alter these processes.
Education
B.A. Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, 2023
B.A. Mathematics, University of Colorado Boulder, 2023
Honors & Awards
- Yale Sterling Prize Fellowship, 2023
- University of Colorado Boulder Outstanding Undergraduate, 2023, for outstanding academic achievement, research contributions, and service to the university
- University of Colorado Boulder Stephen Halley White Award, 2023, for outstanding undergraduate research in physics
- University of Colorado Boulder Jacob Van Ek Scholars Award, 2022, for superior academic achievement and contributions to the university and community
- University of Colorado Boulder Barbara Abraham Shrauner Scholarship in Physics, 2022, for contributions to the Women in Physics community at CU Boulder
- University of Colorado Boulder Thomas Bliska and Gray Boyce Scholarship in Physics, 2022, for outstanding academic achievement and success in undergraduate research
- ATLAS Collaboration Summer Undergraduate Program for Exceptional Researchers (SUPER) Grant, 2022
Selected publications:
ORCID ID
Experiments:
ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) at CERN
