University of Oregon QuarkNet Annual Report 2024

The Institute for Fundamental Science (IFS) at the University of Oregon hosted the 2024 QuarkNet workshop July 2 on the UO campus. This was a bit later than usual due to the Track and Field Olympics Trials being held at UO during the preceding two weeks. This probably affected attendance by teachers, who are anxious to be done with duties by end of June.

This was our 23rd summer workshop. A printed version of the workshop web page is given on the next page and the URL (including live links) is here:

http://pages.uoregon.edu/rayfrey/QuarkNet/2024/QuarkNet_2024.html

The focus for the workshop this year was on recent updates and progress on scientific research in high-energy physics and astrophysics. These included updates by UO faculty on current research, including gravitational waves/LIGO, Atlas and FASER at the LHC, and theory perspectives. In addition, Dr. Scott Fisher (UO), Director of UO’s Pine Mt Observatory gave an update on goings on at Pine Mt, which sits at 6300 feet on the eastern side of the Cascade Range. The big news is that the remote control room for Pine Mt is now operational in Willamette Hall at UO, thus offering easy access for undergraduate research projects.

The full list of participants is given in the web page. The faculty participation was Ray Frey (lead mentor and PI), Eric Torrence, Stephanie Majewski, Scott Fisher, Laura Jeanty, Jim Brau, and Tien-Tien Yu. The faculty talks were very well received and, following usual practice, the presentation files are linked on the web page above, where they are available to teachers. Four active high school science teachers joined us this year, plus retired teacher and QuarkNet observer Dave Trapp. In addition, two students from South Eugene High and two UO undergraduates attended the talks. Funds from the UO IFS were used to cover (minor) local expenses (catering, parking, etc.).