Physics and Psychology
Interdisciplinary Scientist
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science,
the one that heralds new discoveries,
is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'"-Isaac Asimov
My name is Mary Becker, and my path to science has never been a straight line but a braided current of curiosity, care, and craft. Entering higher education at fifteen through CSULA’s Early Entrance Program was less an early start than a first step into a life shaped by questions: how light reveals the small-scale architecture of the world, how neural circuits give rise to feeling and thought, and how mathematical models become tools for seeing what was hidden. Working with LIGO on Brownian noise, training in Python through NASA’s DIRECT-STEM, and exploring cavity geometries for axion searches in South Korea taught me that intellectual growth often comes from working at the boundaries, between disciplines, between theory and experiment, and between comfort and disorientation. Those experiences refined not only my technical skill but my appetite for problems that require both precision and imagination. Caregiving and emergency service changed the tempo and ethics of my scholarship. Returning to San Diego to care for my father during his illness was a crucible that deepened my resilience, compassion, and sense of responsibility; becoming an EMT and serving as a lifeguard translated scientific reasoning into urgent human action. Explaining AEDs to colleagues in terms of RC circuits was a small moment of synthesis that reminded me physics and medicine are not separate vocations but complementary ways of making life intelligible and safer. Those roles sharpened my leadership: empathy guided decisions, technical rigor ensured effectiveness, and humility kept me open to learning from every colleague and patient. Now, back in academia, I bring that non‑traditional trajectory to bear on leadership and research at SDSU. As the former President of Women in Physics and President of the Society of Physics Scholars, I have strived to create spaces where interdisciplinary curiosity and practical experience are valued equally. In the Behura Lab exploring the realm of light-matter interactions, working in the Hollberg Lab on imaging dynamic magnetic fields, and through presentations at APS meetings and local symposia, I am weaving together optics, neuroscience, computation, and medicine into an approach that prizes both depth and connection. My acceptances into the MARC, Cal-Bridge, and CSU-SPA scholarship programs feel like both a recognition and an invitation: to keep asking foundational questions about the universe and about how humans perceive it, and to lead communities that help others follow purposeful, sometimes non-linear, paths into science.
I want to pursue a PhD in physics so I can become an expert in AMO physics and light-matter interactions and eventually apply this knowledge to furthering neuroimaging technology.
I am fascinated by electronics and instrumentation that allows us to quantify and visualize physical phenomena, especially as it relates to the cognitive and functional processes of the mind.
Conventional magnetometers, while adept at measuring magnetic field strength, often fall short in providing comprehensive vector components. I worked on a novel magnetometer utilizing the fluorescence imaging of fast, thermal ytterbium (Yb) atoms that has demonstrated unprecedented spatiotemporal sensitivity for detecting and imaging magnetic fields.
Returning to the Behura Lab this fall, I have started developing optical and electronic systems for Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance of various quantum materials produced in our lab, from NV center diamonds to hexagonal Boron Nitride.
After my colleague Faith Poutoa received a research grant from SPS national, we embarked on a research journey utilizing Schlieren photography to visualize the interference patterns of ultrasonic sound waves in air to demonstrate its effectiveness in making invisible acoustic phenomena visible. We recruited a cohort of undergraduates that wanted research experience and we all worked toward developing a low-cost Schlieren setup for both educational and research purposes. Our paper titled, “Schlieren Imaging of Ultrasound Wave Interference”, has since been published by JURPA 2025.
I was elected President of the Society of Physics Students SDSU for 2024-2025 and I planned and hosted the 2nd Annual SDSU Integration Bee in collaboration with Prof.Steve Leduc and the Integration Bee Committee. In this position I also planned the SDSU Physics Department Faculty Research Symposium for faculty to advertise current undergraduate research opportunities (which recruited 15 undergraduates still actively performing research) and I organized travel and financial support from various grants and donors for over twenty students to attend APS Global Summit 2025.
After being elected the President of Women in Physics SDSU for 2023-2024, I conducted a survey through individual interviews of all undergraduate women in the physics department to better address their experiences of isolation with effective support systems and communicate systemic issues with faculty. Recognizing my community’s need for connections to research, I started a weekly journal review group where students and interested faculty can present new research to expose undergraduate students to recent publications, discuss and dissect academic writing, and create connections with on-campus research groups.
After fighting for my father throughout his treatment and recovery, I realized that I had the strength and ability to fight for myself and the future that I wanted to build. I became a lifeguard and an EMT for the City of San Diego where I taught hundreds of children and adults to swim and focused on providing services to underrepresented and at-risk communities. For my community outreach and grant-funded drowning prevention programs, I was awarded Employee of the Year in 2021. I have helped people on the worst day of their life and I have worked to prevent further pain in my community. One day I found myself explaining to a colleague in the back of an ambulance the unique circuitry inside of an AED with its capacitors and step-up transformers and I realized that my love of physics had never gone away.