What I Did With My Physics Degree
A series of discussions with alumni, industry representatives, faculty, and occasional other visitors together with undergraduate Physics and Astronomy majors on the general topic of career opportunities and prospects for department majors. For more about employment prospects for physicists, please see the American Physical Society page.
April 7, 2022
Seth Camp
Research Physicist for Naval Research Laboratory at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.
Seth Camp received his Ph.D. in Physics from LSU in 2017. He runs code on the Navy DoD Supercomputing Resource Center (DSRC) clusters, working on interesting and new problems daily.
February 4, 2020
Todd Moulder
Experienced Software Engineer with a demonstrated history of working in the computer games industry at inXile Entertainment.
Todd Moulder received his B.S. in Physics from LSU in 2016. Todd shared his career path from the US Army to LSU McNair Scholar, while researching quantum effects of nature and ways to manipulate them for benefit building fundamentals as an undergraduate while immersing himself in the field through the Hearne Institute of Theoretical Physics.
March 6, 2019
Glenn Ellis
Director of Science at Jacobs Technology
Glenn Ellis received his B.S. in Physics from LSU in 1982. He works for Jacobs Technology on an Engineering and Sciences Contract at NASA Johnson Space Center, originally as a Deputy Director of Engineering and now as the Director of Science. Prior to this, he held various engineering and managerial titles at Lockheed Martin, served as the Division Director for the Futron Corporation, and was on the Board of Directors for the Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.
February 7, 2018 | Flyer
Leslie Austin
Chief Operations Officer at HR Solutions
Leslie Austin received her B.S. in Physics from LSU in 2000, and her Juris Doctor/Bachelor of Civil Law, from the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 2004. After graduation from the LSU Law Center, Leslie began a career in human resources (HR) with a focus on labor and employment law compliance. She has been at her current job, with HR Solutions, for almost 10 years, starting off as a benefts and HR manager and eventually rising to her current role as Chief Operating Officer.
While pursuing a career in HR, she received her Professional in Human Resources (PHR) designation in 2007, her Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR) in 2010, and the Society for Human Resource Management, Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) designation in 2015.
March 30, 2017 | Flyer
Tom Harrington
He has more than 30 years of semiconductor industry engineering and management experience. Most recently, Tom served as managing director of Technology Development for Maxim Integrated Products. Tom leverages his mixed signal experience from Maxim and Dallas Semiconductor to drive innovation into D3's power technology.
October 21, 2016 | Flyer
Leanne Truehart
Dr. Truehart received her B.S. in Physics in 1990. She was very active in many groups while at LSU. She was elected president of the Society of Physics Students while at LSU. Dr. Truehart is board certified adult psychiatrist and received Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from National Alliance on Mental Illness in 2014.
November 18, 2015 | Flyer
Christopher Welch
As an undergraduate at LSU, Christopher worked in the high energy physics lab under Dr. Mike Cherry.In 2009, he moved to Houston, providing physics support to the St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital radiation therapy department.2012, Shell Oil Co. approached Christopher to make a career change. He is currently a Petrophysicist supporting the company's onshore Unconventional assets in Latin America. It is a role which he finds to be deeply fulfilling due to the unique challenges,technology, and opportunities.
Lawrence McCune
2010, Exxon Mobil, Artificial Lift Engineer for United States land assets. While in that roll, Lawrence was able to try and test new technologies in difficult environments in order to make previously uneconomic fields economically viable. 2012, joined Shell New Orleans as a Petrophysicist for their Deep Water Gulf of Mexico assets. Lawrence works along Engineers, Geophysicists, Geologists and Physicists to determine the downhole rock properties of the petroleum reservoirs using nuclear tools.
April 16, 2015 | Flyer
Benjamin Anger
Senior Associate Researcher/ Innovation, Research & Dev., Shell: Ben will discuss his experience working in Shell’s NMR and MRI research labs, and how he uses magnetic resonance to understand both the fundamental physics of fluids and gases in porous rocks as well as the application of this knowledge to problems of commercial interest.
Madhu Kohli
Geophysics Discipline Lead/ Upstream Americas Deepwater, Shell: Madhu joined Shell in 1981 as a Geophysicist supporting lease sale assessments. In her journey at Shell, she has had several assignments in Exploration, Development and Technology teams addressing geophysical challenges that impact reservoirs for development. She will share how she has utilized her degree and journey in physics to have a sustaining career in the oil industry.
Elizabeth Tanis
Petrophysicist, Shell Deepwater Operations &
Alec Yang
Petrophysicist, Shell Deepwater Operation: Alec and Liz joined Shell’s Deepwater Operational Petrophysicist group within the last few years after completing their doctorates. Petrophysics is the study of the properties (physical, electrical and mechanical) and the rock/fluid interactions of petroleum systems. They will share how they progressed in the oil and gas industry and explain how their backgroundin physics provided an easy transition into their new roles.
February 16, 2015 | Flyer
Peter Reis
PosiTech Corporation: Peter will share how he uses physics to design electric hydraulic circuits in industrial automation and how he uses computation to program electrical circuits using the Programmable Logic Controller.
Sean Hall
Carver Scientific: Sean will discuss his experience with Carver Scientific, and the development of innovative materials, processes and technologies that bring transformative change to the way electricity is generated, managed and stored.
Alex Brandt
Rackspace: Alex will share his journey to explore what a physics degree provides in the business world. As a cloud evangelist, he provides support and technology solutions, internally developing new approaches with evolving technologies.
October 3, 2013
Najib Abusalbi
Ph.D. in Physics in 1981 from the Department of Physics & Astronomy. Dr. Abusalbi is the Chief Architect, Operations and Corporate University Relations Manager for Schlumberger Limited in Omaha, Nebraska.
April 26, 2013
Major General Jasper A. Welch, Jr.
B.S. in Physics 1952 from the Department of Physics & Astronomy and member of the College of Science Hall of Distinction. Major Welch is a former advisor to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Defense Science Board, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, defense policy coordinator for the National Security Council, member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and member of the National Academy of Engineering.
April 18, 2013
Christopher Welch
B.S. in Physics 2004 and M.S. in Medical Physics 2008, will be on campus to tell us about life at St. Luke's Hospital in Houston after he graduated from our Medical Physics program and then what he is doing now as a petro-physicist using his knowledge about radiation detection for Shell Exploration Company.
November 7, 2012
Brian Burgess
1983 B.S. graduate and now a project manager with defense contractor Praeses.
October 12, 2012
Michelle Holoubek
Graduate of our department and now a patent attorney and director of the Electronics Group at Sterne Kessler Goldstein and Fox law firm in Washington, met with undergraduate Physics and Astronomy majors - Friday, October 12, 2012 - 4:30 PM, Nicholson 119.
Keith Comeaux
NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, 1989 LSU Physics and Mechanical Engineering graduate, "Landing Curiosity on Mars" - departmental colloquium, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 - 4:30 PM, 130 Howe-Russell.