Tara Drake

Tara Drake is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico (UNM). She leads the Drake Lab, focusing on nonlinear optics in microscopic photonic structures, particularly Kerr microresonators and frequency combs. Her research explores applications in compact optical clocks, integrated quantum systems, and thermal stability optimization of soliton states. Prof. Drake holds a PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder (JILA), and has received prestigious awards including the NSF CAREER Award and AFOSR Young Investigator Award.

Her teaching includes undergraduate courses in Introduction to Photonics (PHYS 302) and Contemporary Physics Lab (PHYS 493L). She advises graduate students such as Gabriel Colación, Lala Rukh, and Brandon Stone, as well as undergraduates like Emilio Perez de Juan. Recent collaborations include projects with Prof. Jean-Claude Diels (NSF-funded magnetometry) and Nexus Photonics (DARPA GRYPHON program).

Key achievements include NSF EPSCoR funding for quantum photonic technologies, an NSF MRI award for electron beam lithography equipment, and a focus on scalable quantum systems. Her lab participates in UNM’s QU-REACH summer program for quantum research.