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Central’s Department of Physics and Engineering Physics students and faculty continue to break new ground in lasers and environmental optics. The department’s Lidar Atmospheric Studies and Environmental Research (LASER) group conducts research on design and applications of laser radar and optical sensing instruments for studying our atmosphere. The LASER group has a very active undergraduate research team under the leadership of Dr. Nimmi Sharma. Students conduct research at Central and collaborate with research teams at the University of the Bahamas, the University of Rhode Island, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
This summer Dr. Sharma presented a paper on the LASER group’s research titled “Camera Lidar Observations of Aerosols and Comparisons with Aerosol Optical Depth” at the 31st International Laser Radar Conference in Landshut, Germany, from June 23 to 28. Undergraduate Physics majors Meg Farinsky, Gabriel E. Garcia, and Pablo Escalante, and recent Physics graduate Marcus Alcantara-Silva were among her co-authors on this paper.
Dr. Sharma co-authored a second paper at the conference, “Constraining Aerosol Properties with the Camera Lidar.” The novel instruments described evoked strong interest in the laser radar community. Two of the student co-authors leveraged their research experience at Central to obtain external summer research positions at other institutions, landing competitive research experiences for undergraduates.