Fashioning the Future With: Sarah Johnson

If heat represents energy transferred, then today's post is on fire because we have Dr. Sarah Johnson on the blog today! Sarah is a true force of nature in the STEM education and SciComm world and it's relativity-ly easy to see why. She's put in the hard work! Sarah has her PhD in physics and is a Professor of Physics at Simon Fraser University. She was the winner of the 2018 Canadian Association of Physicists Medal for Excellence in Teaching award! Electro-magnetizing mangoes, how amazing is that?

Dr. Johnson, in collaboration with other female physicists at Simon Fraser University, also created Girls Exploring Physics. Girls Exploring Physics is an organization that hosts workshops and offers resources that encourage girls in ninth and tenth grades to achieve the momentum they need to excel in STEM. As you might expect, Girls Exploring Physics is a massively big deal. The National Sciences and Engineering Research Council awarded Girls Exploring Physics a PromoScience Grant in 2015. In 2017, Girls Exploring Physics made the cover of Physics in Canada, a publication by the Canadian Association of Physicists! It's universal to see the Girls Exploring Physics matters. 

In addition to shaping young minds and empowering women in STEM, you can find Sarah actively engaging in SciComm on Twitter where she goes by Physgal. We highly suggest you follow her! We were thrilled to ask Professor Johnson all about Girls Exploring Physics, what her favorite physics fun fact is, who inspires her, and more! Meet Sarah Johnson, PhD. 

When did you first know you were a scientist?

Probably in high school when I willingly woke up at 4 AM one morning to go on a stargazing trip that my AP Chemistry teacher had organized. My friend and I walked to our high school in the dark so that we could look at the stars.

What first drew you to physics?

I started out in university as a chemistry major, but my first-year physics course was taught by an amazing professor. He helped me realize that physics was a better fit for my interests and skills.

What inspired you to create Girls Exploring Physics?

I created Girls Exploring Physics with several other female physics faculty at Simon Fraser University. We saw that a lot of girls interested in STEM were not taking physics in grades 11 & 12 and we wanted to do something about it. If you don’t take physics in these grades, it’s very difficult to go into physics or engineering at university.  

Do you have a favorite experience or anecdote from your experience with Girls Exploring Physics?

One of my favorite anecdotes is when I ran into a young woman at a conference who was majoring in physics at university. She said that attending a Girls Exploring Physics workshop had a huge impact on her choice of major.

What do you wish girls who are considering going into physics know about the journey?

That they will not only learn really cool things about the universe, they will also gain a lot of valuable skills like problem-solving and critical thinking, that will be incredibly useful no matter which career they choose to pursue. Majoring in physics is a great preparation for lots of different careers. 

Following that, what do you wish the younger version of yourself would have known about pursuing physics?

That all of those over-confident boys in class really don’t know as much as they appear to. That some people in physics will judge me because of my gender — or think that I got special treatment because I am a woman, but that I should just ignore them, because it’s not true.

You’ve created/been part of a lot of conversations (like this one) about why girls and young women don’t go into physics. How can supporters of young women in STEM help break down these barriers?

We need to educate young women (and their parents and teachers) about how valuable a physics education is, and all of the possible career paths people with degrees in physics pursue. There is a lot more beyond being a physics teacher, though we need more of those too. There is also a lot of work to be done to improve the culture within physics so that everyone feels supported and can thrive.

What’s your favorite aspect of being a physics professor at Simon Fraser University?

Interacting one-on-one with students. I love that “aha!” moment when the light bulb turns on and they understand something for the first time.

Do you have a favorite physics fun fact you like to dazzle people with?

I think it’s fascinating that atoms are composed almost entirely of empty space. When you touch an object and it feels solid, that is because of the electromagnetic fields of the atoms in the object and your hand interacting.

What’s the biggest misconception people have about being a physicist?

That you have to be nerdy super-genius like Sheldon Cooper to be a physicist. It’s just not true. Lots of different types of people of all genders are physicists.

You’re very active on Twitter. What do you enjoy most about being a physicist on social media?

I enjoy interacting with the other physics teachers on Twitter and sharing teaching ideas. I also love encouraging all of the amazing young women in STEM on Twitter. They give me hope for the future.

What are some of the most exciting things going on in the field of physics right now?

There are so many things from the gravitational waves being detected by LIGO to the advances in quantum computing. I also think it’s exciting that the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN have not found what a lot of people expected to find. That means we need to go back to the drawing board and rethink some of our theories.

Who (modern day and/or historical) inspires you?

I think Jocelyn Bell Burnell is very inspiring. She doesn’t dwell on the fact that she was not awarded a Nobel Prize, but when she received the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, she donated all of the prize money to help female, minority, and refugee students seeking to become physics researchers.

What are some hobbies you enjoy in your free time?

I like to go hiking with my family. When I’m at home, I like to knit, watch TV and hang out with our two cats.

Do you have any favorite STEM characters in books/movies/other art forms?

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of female physicists in books or movies. I really love that the latest Doctor Who is a woman. Because I was born in the UK, I have been watching Doctor Who since I was a very young child.

If you were a superhero, what would your go-to wearable tech device be?

Definitely something that makes it possible to teleport easily from place to place. I would love to be able to get to places fast without flying on a plane or driving. 

Where can people find you online?

My work website is: https://www.sfu.ca/physics/people/profiles/sjohnson.html

For social media, I am most active on Twitter as @SJDJ. I also run the Girls Exploring Physics Twitter account: @GirlsExpPhysics