Sharon J. Gerbode is a soft matter physicist [1] and the Iris and Howard Critchell Associate Professor of Physics at Harvey Mudd College. She is recognized for her contributions to the fields of soft matter and biomechanics and is a 2016 Cottrell Scholar, a distinction given to top early career academic scientists by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA). [2]
Gerbode obtained her B.S. in physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2003, where she worked on her senior thesis with Bruce Schumm. [3] She earner her Ph.D. in soft condensed matter physics research under the guidance of Itai Cohen at Cornell University. [4] In 2010, Gerbode began working as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University with Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, [4] where she researched mechanical behaviors observed in coiling tendrils of the cucumber plant. [5]
In 2012, she joined Harvey Mudd College as the Iris and Howard Critchell assistant professor in the physics department. In 2018, Gerbode was promoted and became an associate professor of physics. [6]
Gerbode works on studying dynamics in experimental two-dimensional colloidal crystals [7] [8] [9] and plant biomechanics, notably on cucumber tendrils. [10] Her work has been featured in the Cornell Chronicle, [11] the American Physical Society's Physics, [12] [13] and NPR. [14] According to Scopus, Gerbode's publications have received over 431 citations and her h-index is 10. [15]