Alvine Kamaha, assistant professor of physics at the University of California, Los Angeles, won the 2024 Edward A. Bouchet Award from the American Physical Society for her leadership and accomplishments in the experimental search for dark matter in the universe and advancement of underrepresented minority scientists. Her research on radioactive contaminant control programs and calibration techniques to improve the sensitivity of dark matter detectors are geared to discover the so-called missing matter of the universe.
Dr. Kamaha joined the UCLA faculty in 2021. Earlier, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the University at Albany of the State University of New York System.
“Most of all, I want to share my love for physics and demystify it.,” Dr. Kamaha said. “I have used my time to train students informally and formally on key skills they need to become the scientists of tomorrow. I want them to know it doesn’t matter what category they fit in — I want them to know that they can do science and excel at it.”
Dr. Kamaha holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s degree in theoretical elementary particle physics from the University of Douala in Cameroon. She earned a second master’s degree in theoretical high energy physics from the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, and a Ph.D. in experimental particle astrophysics from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario.