The American Physical Society (APS) is hosting its 11th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Section of APS this week at the University of British Columbia. From May 14 to 16, over 250 scientists involved in physics research and education from the Northwest region of the United States and Western Canada will participate in a vigorous program that covers a variety of subjects, from astrophysics, cosmology, and gravity to nuclear, particle, and condensed matter physics. The program features 27 invited speakers-including TRIUMF's own Isabel Trigger and Sonia Bacca-82 contributed talks, and 32 contributed posters.
This year, TRIUMF has the privilege of hosting the poster session, which will be held this Friday, May 15, from 4:30 to 6:30pm in the Main Office Building corridors. TRIUMF welcomes all presenters and guests and encourages TRIUMF employees to browse through the posters and engage with the presenters throughout the afternoon.
TRIUMF is proud to be supporting the work of one of its current undergraduate summer students, Scott Foubister who will be presenting a poster on his work with DRAGON. DRAGON is the TRIUMF Detector of Recoils And Gammas Of Nuclear Reactions, an apparatus designed to measure the rates of nuclear reactions important in astrophysics. Entitled "Investigating the 23Mg(p,g)24 Al Reaction at Astrophysically Relevant Energies with DRAGON. Scott's work will present the results of a nuclear astrophysics experiment conducted during his previous work term at TRIUMF last summer that was designed to measure the resonance strength of the 23Mg(p,g)24 Al reaction. In the first phase of this experiment, a preliminary upper limit of the resonance strength was calculated that indicates resonance strength much lower than the value predicted by nuclear shell-model estimates.
Scott Foubister presenting at the poster session held at TRIUMF.
Nearing completion of his Bachelor of Science in Physics at Thompson Rivers University, Scott is looking forward to this exciting new opportunity and explains, "I've presented posters and given oral presentations at several undergraduate physics conferences before, but this will be my first time presenting at a professional conference. I am excited to present my poster and I think it will be a very good experience."
For more TRIUMF presenters and a preview of topics and abstracts for the poster session, visit: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/NWS09/sessionindex2/?SessionEventID=107044
These annual meetings provide tremendous opportunities for both scientists and students to share their own work and learn from some of the leading physicists in the Pacific Northwest. As part of its mission, APS is committed to the continuous advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of physics. Similarly, TRIUMF is dedicated to scientific innovation, advancement of the frontiers of research, and the transfer of knowledge. Education and outreach programs and events like this hosted conference session help achieve these goals.
For more information about the 11th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Section of APS, visit: http://www.physics.ubc.ca/apsnw/
-- Meghan Magee, Communications Assistant