Dr. Erin MacDonald opens the conference as the first plenary speaker, sharing her journey from astronomy to science advising for various "Star Trek" shows, resulting in the producers creating an animated character called "Dr. Erin," based on MacDonald. 

As the snow fell the last weekend in January, 180 undergraduate students gathered in the Duane Physics building at the University of Colorado Boulder for the Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (��������Ƶ*iP).

This annual three-day event, sponsored by the  (APS), aimed to support and inspire undergraduate women and gender minorities to continue their degrees and explore the various places they can take their education. ��������Ƶ Boulder previously hosted the conference in 2017. The local organizing committee (LOC), composed primarily of graduate and undergraduate students from ��������Ƶ Boulder—with guidance from two University of Colorado Boulder Physics professors, including Bethany Wilcox—volunteered to help organize the event over the past year.

The LOC worked hard to ensure that programming reflected the needs of attendees—especially given the diverse backgrounds of students arriving from different institutions. As many of the organizers had attended ��������Ƶ*iP conferences as undergraduates, they hoped to pass on the crucial lessons they learned to the inspiring scientists.

“��������Ƶ*iPs are meant to bolster the next generation of physicists, and we tried very hard to reflect the range of attendee backgrounds and needs our attendees represented,” said one ��������Ƶ Boulder graduate student on the organizing team. “All of our parallel workshop and panel sessions included options for a variety of student interests, and we hope, as a result, everyone felt seen and supported.”

Students inspiring students

Despite their demanding research and class schedules, the LOC met regularly to organize the minute details of the conference.

"This conference has really been a monument to the skill, dedication, and hard work of the incredible graduate and undergraduate women on the LOC,” explained Wilcox. “They have donated so much of their time and energy over the past year to building an incredible program and creating a truly transformational experience for all the student attendees."

As this year’s conference had a higher-than-usual number of incoming participants, the team worked to adapt the conference's events to include more panels on Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQIA+ experiences in physics, along with topics like social identities.

“With a very short timeline, we had to figure out if we could accommodate the new students and how much we would need to increase our budget to make it possible,” added one graduate student conference organizer. “Our whole team was excited about the possibility of bringing even more students to Boulder, so we quickly sprang into action to make it possible.”

The conference efforts were also supported by ��������Ƶ Boulder staff members, including those from JILA and the physics department.

While the APS helped fund part of the conference, the team of students also collaborated with local quantum companies and others to sponsor certain parts of the conference.

“The success of our conference was made possible thanks to the huge outpouring of support from our community,” said one graduate student team organizer. “The donations from ��������Ƶ departments, institutes, and offices, local universities, national labs and our industry partners ensured that we were able to provide an outstanding experience for all of our attendees. Many of our sponsors also attended our networking dinner and fair, giving students a valuable opportunity to connect with physics professionals and gain insights into career pathways.”

The LOC also collaborated with individuals and organizations, such as the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains (SWARM), to teach workshops on science journalism. ��������Ƶ Boulder’s Center for Inclusion and Social Change (CISC) offered seminars on social identities and interrupting racism.

A conference to remember

JILA researchers explain their laboratory set up, headed by JILA Fellow and ��������Ƶ Boulder Physics professor Heather Lewandowski, as part of a laboratory tour during the ��������Ƶ*IP Boulder 2025 conference. (credit: Christine Jackson/JILA)

The conference commenced with optional activities to introduce undergraduates to Boulder, including a downtown walk and lab tours at JILA, the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) and National Solar Observatory. They also toured labs in the ��������Ƶ Boulder Department of Physics, College of Engineering and Applied Science, New Physics Laboratory (NPL) and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). Following these tours, attendees gathered in the University Memorial Center for the official welcome address given by APS representative Kathryne Sparks Woodle and ��������Ƶ Boulder Physics Professor Bethany Wilcox.

The evening featured a plenary talk by Dr. Erin Macdonald, an astrophysicist renowned for her work in science communication and consulting for the "Star Trek" franchise. Her talk emphasized the importance of diverse perspectives in physics and inspired attendees to explore interdisciplinary applications of their skills.

“The way I can tell a great plenary ��������Ƶ*iP talk is if I think to myself in the middle, 'Are they talking directly to me?' And then I look around the room to find so many other faces seeming to experience the same feeling,” said one student on the organizing team. “Erin's talk did exactly that, from her confident sharing of her early female science inspirations and crushes to her candid telling of challenges along her journey. It was an incredibly relatable and inspiring talk.”

The day concluded with a networking dinner, fostering connections among participants.

Workshops, panels, posters and a special visit

Saturday began with a BIPOC networking breakfast and continued with a keynote panel discussing diverse careers available to those with a physics degree. Parallel workshop sessions followed, covering topics such as finding one's place in physics, public engagement, funding opportunities, and science communication's significance.

For one ��������Ƶ Boulder physics undergraduate student, attending the Finding One’s Place in Physics workshop was especially memorable. She sat next to a student from a border town in Texas who had been discouraged by many of her teachers from going to college. They told the student she would “amount to nothing.”

“Hearing this was heartbreaking, but she channeled that stigma into motivation, becoming the first in her family to earn an undergraduate degree, with plans to pursue a PhD in physics,” said the undergraduate participant. “Her story, and others like it, were deeply inspiring, highlighting the resilience of women overcoming barriers in STEM.”

After lunch, students packed in tightly on the UMC’s central staircase to take their group photo. That was followed by lunch with a virtual nationwide keynote address by Dr. Meghan Anzelc who shared her journey and insights into leveraging a physics background in various career paths.

The afternoon featured a networking fair and breakout panel sessions, including graduate school admissions, gender minorities and being out in physics, Boulder’s technological hub, BIPOC experiences in physics and discussions on imposter phenomena.

A student poster session showcased ongoing research, providing a platform for undergraduates to present their work and receive feedback. 

“It was rewarding to share my work with a diverse audience, including undergraduates, graduate students, professors and industry professionals,” the undergraduate student said. “My poster generated a lot of interest and even received an Honorable Mention award, which was a validating moment for all my hard work.”

LOC team members and volunteers judged the posters, and six students received awards for their poster design and presentation skills at the end of the conference.

The second evening of the conference, Dr. Desiré Whitmore, the Senior Physics Educator at the Exploratorium in California, shares her interests in lasers and atomic physics in her plenary talk. 

The day concluded with a banquet dinner and a plenary talk by Dr. Desiré Whitmore, an atomic physicist and educator, who shared her experiences and emphasized the importance of resilience and curiosity.

“Desiré's talk was a prime example of ‘show not tell,’” said one graduate student team organizer. “By wowing us with her simple yet powerful demos, she was introducing us to her world, where she designs accessible, hands-on educational experiences in science at Exploratorium and in classrooms around the world. ‘Show not tell’ is also exactly the philosophy of the plenary talks throughout the conference. We would like to bring in inspiring minority figures in physics and show the students how fulfilling careers with a physics degree look like even for a woman or gender minority, and that they can do it, too.”

One of the organizers added: “What I got (and I think a few others, too) from Desiré's talk was a big emphasis on seizing opportunities, bringing your true self into your career, and most importantly, staying curious.”

Connecting beyond ��������Ƶ*iP

The final day offered more activities, including parallel workshop and panel sessions that addressed topics such as CV building, science journalism, interrupting racism and making physics more accessible.

Dr. Christina Willis of quantum computing company Infleqtion gave the final plenary talk before lunch, highlighting the importance of sustainable networking and making your career your own.

The conference concluded with closing remarks and awards and encouraged participants to apply the insights gained to their academic and professional journeys.

“The boundless dedication and creativity of the volunteers made this conference a true triumph for the physics community at ��������Ƶ,” said a student organizer. “It was so amazing to see young students envisioning careers and identities for themselves in physics.” 

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