Nicholas DePorzio

Biography

As a Northeastern University undergraduate majoring in Physics and Mathematics, I have expanded my understanding of what makes a successful physicist. It is more than technical knowledge - collaboration, curiosity, and communication are equally important characteristics that through my experiences I have begun to develop. I’ve communicated the importance of science to the pubic by participating in outreach through the Cambridge Science Festival, co-founding the awarded physics for youth inspiration project “WaterWorks,” and defending physics and its value in political discourse by corresponding with Congress and participating in the STEM Congressional Visit Days. Leadership is a lesson in collaboration, and I first served on the executive board of my chapter of SPS before venturing into a more expansive position as a National Council Member of SPS where I lead efforts to revise the Society’s Charter and Bylaws. As a researcher, I spent my first year at the Northeastern Center for Graphene Research before being driven by curiosity towards nuclear physics. I then spent eight months at Italy’s Gran Sasso National Laboratory contributing to the CUORE experiment by characterizing cryogenic scintillating materials as a means of background reduction. This introduction to nuclear physics catalyzed working at CERN for six months on CMS’s tracking systems. Convinced of my passion for nuclear physics, and especially for neutrino and dark matter experiments, I have worked for nearly the past two years at MIT’s Laboratory for Nuclear Science neutrinoless double-beta decay investigations; I have shared my work at meetings of the APS and made contributions to presentations at the NEUTRINO conference. I hope to continue developing my career through pursuit of a PhD in experimental nuclear physics.