Only two students will represent the United States at the International Conference of Physics Students (ICPS) in Odense, Denmark, August 7-13. Reid will present the research that resulted in her receiving the SPS honor.
Reid's research was done with a group working with Virginia Tech physics faculty member Uwe C. Täuber. "Our group (condensed matter theory) tries to build theoretical understanding of systems 'out of equilibrium,' Reid said. "One example is life, which is maintained by a constant energy flux through the system. My project's focus was to use computer simulations to study anomalous diffusion (how particles move through unordinary media) and is related to the study of percolation. The computer simulations allowed us to test a specific theory of how the particles should behave and discover that theory's limits." Reid's main contributions were writing and performing the simulations, doing detailed data analysis and interpretation, and developing an intermediary model to explain the group's results.
Täuber said Reid is "definitely among the very best students I have ever met during my career at the Technical University of Munich, Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and here at Virginia Tech." Her "remarkable academic achievements" led to her receipt of numerous scholarships and to being named the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Senior 2003. She also received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and a rare National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
According to the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship web page, "NSF Fellows are expected to contribute significantly to research, teaching, and industrial applications in science, mathematics, and engineering. These contributions, in turn, will broadly impact society and the community." Reid said her proposal for the NSF fellowship involved "the application of techniques of statistical physics to study the distribution of biological populations in space in order to understand issues about habitat loss and fragmentation."
In fact, one of Reid's concerns is environmental and ecological issues, and she plans interdisciplinary research on the interface of non-equilibrium statistical physics, mathematical biology, and ecology, according to Täuber. Reid says she probably will stay in academia and do research.
Reid , who has worked at the NASA Langley Research Center, has done internships with Boehringer Ingelheim and Luna Innovations, and has attended high-quality undergraduate research programs at the University of Washington and Behrend College, Penn State Erie. "These activities provided her with a remarkably broad spectrum of first-hand research experience," according to Täuber, who said he was delighted to have her join his research efforts.
Reid is the daughter of Barry and Brenda Reid of Chester, Va.
Photo available by contacting news.bureau@vt.edu.
PR Contact: Sally Harris, 540-231-6759, slharris@vt.edu