Eric Barnes

Eric Barnes is a Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UW-L), part of the College of Science and Health. His research focuses on galaxy dynamics, dark matter, and collisionless systems, particularly analyzing N-body simulations and their implications for galactic structure formation. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Louisiana State University (2001) and has conducted postdoctoral research at Rutgers University and the University of Minnesota. Barnes has led studies on dark matter halo profiles, radial orbit instability, and thermodynamic models of self-gravitating systems. He has secured grants such as the NASA ATP grant (2007–2011) and has advised numerous undergraduate researchers. His teaching spans courses like Classical Mechanics, Thermodynamics, and Computational Physics. He has served as Chair of the UW-L Physics Department (2016–2019) and held roles in university committees, including the Faculty Senate and Promotion & Tenure Committee.