LHC Physics Center

What I will be working on:

As an LPC Distinguished researcher, I plan to work alongside other LPC members in three main areas: jet substructure, machine learning (ML), and Phase-II tracker upgrades. In the first area, I will be working on CMS jet substructure measurements and am interested in growing the group involved in such measurements . As JMAR convener, I plan to facilitate the involvement of the LPC in the JetMET (JME) group, including utilizing local Coffea experts to help automate JME workflows. I am currently involved in developing an ML explainability tool, which I will work on implementing in CMS. Additionally, I will be working on testing detector components for the forward pixel component of the tracker Phase-II upgrade, through module testing at UIC and testbeam at Fermilab.

My role in CMS past and present:

I joined CMS as a graduate student in 2014, and at the beginning of Run II, I worked to develop the CMS Run II top tagger, which makes use of jet grooming and other jet substructure quantities, in order to identify boosted top quarks. I lead the search for exotic spin-1 particles decaying to boosted hadronically-decaying top quarks. On the hardware side, I contributed to many aspects of the CMS muon program: electronics testing for the CSC ME1/1 upgrade at the end of Long Shutdown 1, CSC detector-on-call (DOC) shifts during Run II, read out chip (ROC) testing for the GEM upgrade, and installation of the GEM demonstrator. Near the end of my graduate career, I became the JetMET (JME) object contact for the B2G physics analysis group. As a postdoc on CMS, I became the convener of the JetMET Algorithms and Reconstruction (JMAR) subgroup of the JME POG. I have been highly involved in measuring jet substructure quantities, particularly groomed jet mass. I have moved my detector focus to the tracker, at first becoming a tracker DCS expert and regularly acting as a tracker DOC. Recently I have transitioned to working on Phase-II tracker upgrades, specifically in testing ROCs for the tracker forward pixels. In addition to my physics roles, I am a member of the USCMS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.