Catherine Herne

Dr. Catherine Herne is an Associate Professor in the Physics & Astronomy Department at State University of New York at New Paltz. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and an A.B. from Bryn Mawr College. Her office is located in Science Hall 275, with her research laboratory in Science Hall 230.

Dr. Herne's research focuses on optical micromanipulation, particularly using optical tweezers to explore the effects of light on matter. She directs undergraduate students in research on polarization effects on birefringent particles, rotation of matter with vortex modes, and undergraduate advanced physics lab instruction. Her work has applications in stretching cells to learn about cell membranes, pushing nanospheres through constricted flow areas such as blood vessels, rotating asymmetric objects, and creating lab-on-a-chip systems.

Her recent publications demonstrate a consistent research trajectory in optical manipulation, with a particular emphasis on calcite crystal rotation in polarized light, bacterial attachment forces, and manipulation of various materials using laser beams. These works span optics, biophysics, and nanotechnology with applications in both fundamental research and practical technologies.

Dr. Herne has mentored numerous undergraduate students through the AMP and C-STEP Communities Summer Research Program (2015-2018), SUNY New Paltz Summer Undergraduate Research Experience program, and the Academic Year Undergraduate Research Program. She has presented her teaching research at multiple American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meetings and SUNY Professional Development Conferences.

Her teaching portfolio includes courses such as PHY108: Seeing the Light: Physics, Vision, and Art; PHY201: General Physics 1; PHY322: Optics, Optics Lab; PHY422: Thermal Physics; and PHY424: Advanced Physics Lab.