2021
SPS Outstanding Chapter Advisor
University of Central Arkansas
Jeremy Lusk is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and
Astronomy at the University of Central Arkansas, and serves as the
faculty adviser for the Society of Physics Students. His main research
focus is on supernova explosions, an extension of his Ph.D. work at the
University of Oklahoma, where he compared different methods for
computing the bolometric luminosities of supernovae. Throughout his
physics career, Dr. Lusk has spent time doing outreach and education
work. As a graduate student at OU he helped found the Lunar Sooners, a
student organization which is still hosting star parties both on campus
and around central Oklahoma.
Most of his time as faculty adviser has been during a global pandemic,
so Dr. Lusk has been thankful for his excellent SPS students and
officers for finding creative ways to keep SPS active during the last
two years. The Spooky STEM Fest in 2020 brought together most of the
STEM student organizations on campus for an evening of Halloween-themed
science demonstrations and stargazing. In the Spring of 2021, SPS
organized "Mars Touchdown on the Stripes" -- using the football
stadium's video board to live-stream the Mars Perseverance rover's entry,
decent and landing. Unfortunately, a record-shattering winter storm
dropped over two feet of snow and forced the event to move online.
Above all, Dr. Lusk is proud of the SPS members and officers for their
dedication, ingenuity, and, resilience over the last two years.