STEM Shoutout: Dr. Darcy Barron

New Astronomy and Physics professor will continue cosmic microwave background research at UNM

Dr. Darcy Barron will be joining UNM’s Physics and Astronomy Department as a new assistant professor starting in the fall of 2018.

Barron hails from UC Berkeley, where she has been an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics postdoctoral fellow since 2015.

The fellowship, “supported me to continue my research as well as expand my involvement in education and outreach,” Barron said.

Originally from Illinois, she attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she majored in engineering physics and in 2015,  finished her master’s and Ph.D. at UC San Diego.

Barron’s area of interest within cosmology includes the measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB).

“Surveys of the faint CMB polarization signal will provide detailed maps of the distribution of matter in the Universe, and could give new insight into the earliest inflationary period immediately after the Big Bang,” Barron said.

To further her research, Barron primarily works with the POLARBEAR Array located in the Atacama Desert of Chile to survey the CMB. As well as helping to identify neutrino masses and map out the structure of the universe, Barron is also involved in the Simons Observatory project, which is dedicated to expanding the site in Chile with larger and more advanced telescopes.

One thing Barron is looking forward at UNM is the new interdisciplinary physics and astronomy building, which is under construction.

“I’m really excited about the new building (PAÍS) where my lab will be located once construction is completed. It’s a really great opportunity to have so much input on my new lab space…It will be fun to watch the construction progress over the next year.”

For more information on Barron’s research and publications, visit her website.