Alvine Kamaha is a Cameroonian-born assistant professor of physics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). [1]
Kamaha graduated from the University of Douala in Cameroon with undergraduate and master's degrees in theoretical physics. [1] She earned an additional master's degree at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. [1] [2]
She transitioned from theoretical to experimental physics when she went on to Queen's University for her Ph.D. in astroparticle physics. [1] Her first postdoctoral position was at Queen's University and her second was at the University at Albany in New York. [1] [3]
While pursuing her Ph.D. at Queen's University, Alvine Kamaha worked at Sudbury's SNOLAB with Gilles Gerbier, Queen's Professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair. [4] Gerbier studied dark matter particles, and Kamaha built a new apparatus to find those particles. [4] Her work was primarily for an experiment called New Experiments With Spheres (NEWS) with the goal of detecting dark matter particles with spheres containing a ball attached by a rod and filled with a gas which would then ionize upon interaction with dark matter particles. [4] The electrons in the gas would move to the center of the sphere when voltage was given to the ball and that would cause an avalanche. [4] The movement would form an electric pulse, resulting in data which would be analyzed for potential dark matter particle detection. [4]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kamaha was a calibration operations coordinator for the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota and served on the experiment's equity and inclusion committee. [1]
Kamaha played an important role in ensuring the LZ was free of dust or any other potential contamination during the assembly stage. [5] Kamaha then led work on the calibration system to ensure common particles were not confused with dark matter. [5] The dark matter particles detected by the LZ are called weakly interacting massive particles or WIMPs. [5] While initial experiments did not detect dark matter, Kamaha contributed to building the cleanest and most sensitive instrument in the world to detect WIMPs. [5] [6] [7] [8]
Kamaha is an assistant professor of physics at UCLA where she is the inaugural Keith and Cecilia Terasaki Chair in Physical Sciences. [5] [9] [10] Kamaha's research group, ExCaliBUR (Experimental Detector Calibrations & Background Controls for Underground Particle Physics Research), focuses on developing technologies that can detect dark matter. [11]
She is the recipient of the American Physical Society's 2024 Edward A. Bouchet Award for her contributions to uncovering dark matter in the universe and fostering diversity through mentorship. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] She is a role model for African girls who aspire to a career in science and a source of pride for Cameroon. [19]