Steve is Professor of Physics and the current chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. His main focus is the near detector for the DUNE long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. He is co-editor of the DUNE near detector conceptual and technical design reports. He is also works on the T2K experiment and its detector upgrade, and works with students on analysis of MINERvA. Steve enjoys photography, cooking, and billiards. He is the author of two books for popular audiences, “Relativity and Quantum Mechanics for Beginners” and “Visions of the Multiverse”.
Chris Marshall is an Associate Professor in Physics. He is the Physics co-Coordinator of the DUNE experiment, where he coordinates the simulation, reconstruction, and physics analysis activities of the collaboration. He also works on short-baseline oscillation searches and neutrino cross section measurements with ICARUS.
Kevin McFarland is the Steven Chu Professor in Physics. He was one of the founding co-spokespersons of the MINERvA experiment, and works on the application of neutrino interactions to the T2K oscillation analysis. He also works on trigger and reconstruction for the SBN far detector (ICARUS), and design and prototyping of the DUNE near detectors. He loves exploring the Finger Lakes of Western New York or wherever in the world physics takes him by bicycle.
Arie Bodek is the George E. Pake Professor of Physics. He has been working on both precise electroweak measurements at the CDF and CMS experiments at hadron colliders, and on the MINERvA Experiment. In neutrino physics he has also specialized in using electron scattering data to model neutrino interaction. He was awarded the 2004 APS W.KH. Panofsky Prize in Experimental Particle Physics “for his broad, sustained, and insightful contributions to elucidating the structure of the nucleon, using a wide variety of probes, tools, and methods at many laboratories.”
Howard Budd is a Senior Scientist. He is currently the Operations Support Manager for the ICARUS experiment. He is also working on the repurposing of the MINERvA detector into a muon tracking tagger for protoDUNE-ND. He plays classical guitar and has vowed to never again ride his bicycle from his childhood home in State College, Pennsylvania, to Fermilab.
Jaesung Kim is a postdoctoral research associate working on the ICARUS and DUNE experiments. His Ph.D thesis was searching for heavy neutrinos using the CMS detector at the LHC, which can explain the origin of neutrino masses. He is the Neutrino Interactions group co-convener in DUNE, and co-led the first neutrino-argon cross section measurement in ICARUS. He recently entered the world of golf, and has been trying his best not to send his golf ball into the water.
Joel Elias is a graduate student working on the T2K experiment. As an undergraduate student in our group, he worked on comparing quasielastic like events with visible protons to models and constructing “tunings” to better describe the data. He is originally from Arizona and claims at least two sigma evidence that Rochester is colder in the winter.
Aaron McGowan is a Visiting Scientist, and a Senior Lecturer at RIT. His current research interests are in proton tracking and neutral-current elastic scattering. Aaron coordinated the effort to map the signal response of the MINERvA modules prior to installation, and developed the pedestal calibration for the detector. He enjoys bicycling (shorter distances than Kevin), running (shorter distances than Chris), and a variety of other outdoor activities with his two children.
Deborah Harris is a Professor of Physics at York University in Toronto, and is a Visiting Scientist at Rochester. She is currently the scientific co-spokesperson of MINERvA and is the leader of Canada’s DUNE groups. She enjoys playing Mandolin in her spare time and has been known to organize sing-alongs with only the most threadbare of excuses for doing so.
Recent group alumnx
Jeanie Wolfs defended her Ph.D on the ICARUS experiment in 2026. She led the implementation and validation of cross section uncertainties in the first oscillation search. She also worked on prototyping the DUNE liquid argon near detector. When she isn’t working on her research, Jeanie enjoys swing dancing and cooking recipes from the newest issue of “Cook’s Country”.
Ryan Howell defended his Ph.D. thesis on the MINERvA experiment in 2025, with a search for short-baseline oscillations. He also made significant contributions to ICARUS, including improving event selection processes and fine-tuning parameters. He enjoys trail running with his dog and doing pub trivia with friends.
Jack, pictured here with Cookie the goat, defended his Ph.D. on ICARUS in 2025. His work focused on measuring neutrino interactions with argon that produce two final-state protons. He also worked on prototyping the DUNE Near Detector. In his free time, Jack enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, doing crossword puzzles, and exploring local coffee shops.
Faiza Akbar is a postdoctoral research associate working on the DUNE and ICARUS experiments. She previously worked on measuring antineutrino deep inelastic scattering in MINERvA. In her spare time, she likes to bake and go for long walks.
Andrew Olivier defended his Ph.D. thesis on the MINERvA experiment. His work focused on MeV-GeV neutrons produced when antineutrinos interact on carbon, iron, and lead. He was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for this project concept in 2017. Andrew coordinated MINERvA’s distributed computing infrastructure from July 2019 – November 2020. He also helped build ProtoDUNE-SP’s cosmic ray tagger and assembled its data acquisition system. Andrew enjoys day hikes near Fermilab, rock climbing, and backpacking in the Smoky Mountains.
Mehreen Sultana defended her Ph.D. on the MINERvA experiment. She worked on identifying low recoil neutrino interactions that produce pions. In her off time, she enjoys cooking, painting, and fossil/gem hunting on the beach when she can.
Sarah Henry defended her Ph.D. thesis on the MINERvA experiment in 2024. Her work focused on anti-electron neutrino interactions in the tracker region. She was also involved with the installation and commissioning of the cosmic ray tagger for the ProtoDUNE-SP detector. She was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in 2018. In her spare time she enjoys cycling and physics outreach.
Daniel Ruterbories was a postdoctoral research associate at Rochester, working on the MINERvA and DUNE experiments. He served as Analysis Coordinator for the MINERvA experiment in charge of organizing and supporting the experiment’s many measurements to publication. He enjoys spending as much time as possible with his three children, encouraging their passions for bugs, dinosaurs, and all things nature.
Clarence Wret was a postdoctoral research associate at Rochester, working on the T2K, DUNE and MINERvA experiments. He worked on developing neutrino oscillation analysis, improving neutrino interaction modelling, and developing detectors for the next generation of long baseline neutrino experiments. He enjoys rock climbing, long distance hikes, and snowboarding.
Gonzalo Diaz Bautista defended his Ph.D. on the MINERvA experiment in 2023. His work involved measuring low momentum transfer suppression of neutral pion production in the iron and lead of MINERvA’s passive nuclear targets. He is from Perú and is passionate about football, but not the American kind.
Tejin Cai is a postdoc at the University of York, working on the DUNE experiment. As a Rochester graduate student, he studied neutron production in neutrino interactions in MINERvA. He defended his Ph.D. thesis on June 1, 2021.
Jeffrey Kleykamp is a postdoc at the University of Mississippi working on the NOvA experiment. At Rochester, he worked on measuring charged-current quasi-elastic scattering cross sections on different nuclear targets in MINERvA. He defended his Ph.D. thesis on June 8, 2021.
Dyson Kennedy was University of Rochester undergraduate researcher in our group, working with Dr. McFarland and Jacob Smith to study rare and potentially exotic signals. He enjoys interesting board games and snowboarding. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in physics at the University of Massachusetts.
Jacob Smith was a University of Rochester undergraduate researcher working on the MINERvA experiment on a search for milli-charged particles. When he is not researching, Jacob enjoys backpacking on the Appalachian Trail and cooking. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in physics at Stony Brook University.
