Meet Our Crew: The complete list of people that keep EPRA going vary from graduate students to college professors. Below are the beating heart that keeps this program alive each year.
Peter Harnish |
Background: My day job is writing and running the instructional labs as well as head TA Wrangler for the UPenn Physics Department. Before coming to UPenn, my previous lives included theoretical graphene research, experimental quantum optics, museum education, wilderness survival teacher, and selling equipment on the Appalachian Trail.
Personal: An esoterically read “trivial wealth of knowledge,” likes to carry a child in each hand, pretends to be a Dwarven Cleric but is really a Hafling Sorcerer |
Mary Marcopul |
Background: I work at UPenn as the Physics and Astronomy Department’s Lecture Demonstration Coordinator (coming on as Bill retired). Prior to this, I taught Physics, Math and Computer Science for almost twenty years. I have taught everything from physical science to calculus based, AP Physics (AP C). I have been with the EPRA program since 2004.
Personal: Outside of work, I have three children, and enjoy needlecrafts, singing and playing roller derby. |
|
Dr. Ryan Batkie |
Background: I have been teaching physics in myriad venues since 2007: public high schools in Philadelphia and New York, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a private school outside of Philly. I am now a resident science education expert for the UPenn Department of Physics and Astronomy. Which means I help professors and instructors think critically about what learning science means, how to recognize it, and how we should try to make more of it happen. I am writing a dissertation on the relationship between democratic citizenship and school science. (Having to write that sentence in the present tense and not the past tense is making me sad in this moment.)
Personal: A 5-year-old named Violet is the center of my universe. I’ve been known to play music, make things out of wood with power tools, take long bicycle trips involving camping gear carried on said bike, kayak, scuba dive…to scratch the surface. I grew up on a dairy farm in Michigan. I’m vegan. |
Robert Walker |
Background: I’m a new high school Physics teacher currently working at Central HS. I began teaching in the fall of 2021 and since then I’ve taught honors and regular level courses. I have a mechanical engineering degree from Temple University. Before teaching, I spent a few years working as an energy efficiency engineer. I grew up nearby in Lower Merion, but I’ve lived in the city for the past 5 years.
Personal: One of my biggest hobbies is playing ultimate frisbee. This sport has given me a slew of useful skills including but not limited to spinning things on my finger, explaining rules to strangers that they’ll never understand, and recurring shoulder pain. |
|
|
Background:
Personal: |
| Lab TA | Background:
Personal: |
Steven Gassner |
Background: I’m originally from upstate New York, and my undergraduate degree is in Nanoscale Science. I did a lot of physics tutoring during undergrad, and that certainly influenced my decision to go for my PhD in Physics starting Fall 2020. My research interest is in quantum condensed matter theory, particularly how light can influence interactions between electrons in a material. Electrons are much more interesting when they’re not social distancing.
Personal: The YouTube algorithm recommends me an even mix of absurd meme videos and physics lectures, because it’s figured out that I’m equally likely to click on either. |
Jesse Hanlan |
Background: I am a graduate student in the UPenn Physics Department, where I spend my time researching granular materials, assistant teaching various physics courses, and arguing loudly with my peers about game mechanics. I can also be found using increasingly dangerous physics demonstrations at various events in Philadelphia. My undergraduate work was in colloidal self assembly, eating, and sleeping, and I aced 2 out of the 3.
Personal:Spends hours crafting the perfect thesis for why an internet comment was wrong only to delete it before hitting send. |
|
Neha Joshi |
Background:
Personal:
|
|
Rebecca Hicks |
Background:
Personal:
|
|
Joey Minnella |
Background:
Personal:
|
|
Margot Young |
Background:
Personal:
|
|
Bill Berner (he/him) |
Background: Had the world’s second best job for 25 years: teaching high school physics. Then moved on to the world’s best job for the next 25 years: running Penn’s Physics Demonstration lab . I am currently on hiatus, wondering what to be when I grow up.
Personal: My major distractions involve cars, cameras, climbing, and trying to read all the books I’ve accumulated over the last 75 years. |
