Elsie Murphy graduated with her BS in Physics and a minor in Geology from California State University Fullerton (CSUF). While at CSUF, her research in computational soft matter physics and software development for geochronological research led to her passion for geophysics. She will be pursuing her doctorate in Earth Science at UC Santa Barbara and looks forward to studying infrasound signals of natural phenomena.
In this Spotlight Q&A, we asked Elsie about her GRAD EDGE experience, her research focus, and what she is excited to pursue as a PhD student at UC Santa Barbara.
Q&A
So I actually started as a civil engineering student at Cal State Fullerton. I was in that program for two years, and in that time, I worked as a construction management assistant on campus...and that led me to get a geotechnical engineering internship. I realized I really wanted to do research, because at the same time, on campus, I was involved in physics research.
Computational physics, I actually did a big switch, because in physics, geology research is much more the emphasis as opposed to industry production and things like that. I didn't actually go in knowing I wanted to do a PhD, but in my two years in physics, I developed a passion for research...and a PhD is the way to get trained to do research properly.
I always liked earth science and I liked engineering. But I was the child of two athletes. My mom was like a collegiate soccer tennis player and my dad was a baseball player. My parents never encouraged me to pursue a STEM degree and I navigated that path on my own.
I was always really in sports...so I was actually a late bloomer. I always liked science - I liked it, but I actually didn't have time to pursue it until college. So I actually credit Cal State Fullerton -- they have good programs...and especially being a Latina, I feel like that was a great place to be, to not be discouraged in any way to pursue STEM.
That's how I ended up in geophysics, as I liked the intersection between highly technical math and also the outdoors and "big picture" problems like earthquake hazard warnings and things like that.
My advisor actually told me about it. Among the incoming cohort, I'm the only one from a Cal State, so I think that's why he thought of me. He encouraged me to do it -- to get started on research. He was supportive in that he knew about it and referred me.
It's been really great. My advisors are really good. I think the structure of the program -- of meeting once a week and having a few workshops during the week -- but the rest of the time you can dedicate to research has been really helpful. So you get acquainted with the campus and research, as well as meeting friends who maybe aren't necessarily in your department.I don't think you really have a lot of chances for that during the quarter. So it's been really helpful to get connected with my department, peers from other departments and just the campus itself. It's been great.
I'm in the Earth Science department, but I'm under the umbrella of Geophysics. I study infrasonic and acoustic signals that are produced by man made and natural phenomenon. My research includes observational studies of these events as well as numerical modeling to model and capture changes in acoustic pressure, mapping paths of sound signal, or coupling solid earth phenomenon and the sound signal they produce. So the goals of my research at the end of my doctorate are to study methods for better signal processing of natural events that can be applied to nuclear testing and other things that Department of Energy and the Department of Defense can use.
A lot of my EDGE peers are in the humanities. For me, this was really, really helpful because we use a lot of code and a lot of programming...and each discipline is really different and have their own unique tools. Using this time to get comfortable and to get over that learning curve quickly is really going to help me get started in the quarter. I can't imagine learning all this new stuff, plus classes, research, and teaching all at the same time. So I think this introductory period has been great.
I'm really excited to really focus on research. I think in my undergraduate years at CSU, I shared a common experience of commuting, working part-time, and having internships in the summer...just kind of being pulled in a lot of different directions. I'm actually really excited to just be focused on research and doing things I like because at Fullerton, I was focused in physics, and I'm really grateful for the technical knowledge that gave me, but that definitely wasn't where my passions led me.
So now I'm in a place I want to be researching the things I want to do, so I'm really excited for that.
Our GRAD EDGE Coordinator Sebastian has been very helpful in making everybody feel really welcomed. I think he's really good about that. I think all my peers in GRAD EDGE have been really kind. The transitions has been easy. And my advisor has been really good too. I had also a lot of really good mentors from before UCSB who encouraged me to apply here.
Elsie played club soccer until she was 18. She received college scholarships as an athlete, but decided her higher education path was more focused on STEM rather than sports.