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| Inteha at Woodward Camp in Pennsylvania |
Up next in our Senior Spotlight
series is Inteha Hassan! Inteha is from
Herndon, Virginia, where she graduated from Herndon High School in 2016, but
she also spent a year of her high school career living in Texas. She is a physics major pursuing the
geophysics multidisciplinary track, and has minors in geophysics, geology, and
mathematics. Inteha currently does
research with Dr. McGary from the JMU Geology Department. Her love of nature extends beyond simply the
Earth, and she loves caring for her cat, Mochi, and her many houseplants. Inteha is also very involved with helping the broader JMU community better understand physics, being both a learning assistant for the introductory physics classes and recently named Tutor of the Week for her work at the JMU Science and Math Learning Center. Fellow senior
Teddy Chu had the privilege of interviewing her.
When most people think of geology, we tend to think it just studies
rocks. What can you tell us about the
work you do in geophysics, and how you got into the work you’re currently
doing?
Geophysics is more than just
rocks! I am currently working on imaging
the substructure of western Virginia by measuring fluctuations in the earth's
electric and magnetic field and developing the substructure's resistivity
distribution. With this information, I want to assess whether western Virginia
is viable for enhanced geothermal systems. I decided to pursue geophysics, and
more specifically geothermal energy, because I was initially interested in the
oil and gas sector of geophysics, but I came to the realization that I didn't
want to contribute to climate change; renewable energy is actually really cool!
What has your favorite class
been at JMU? What about it made it your favorite?
Since I'm a hybrid of two
departments, I have two favorite classes at JMU. The first class was my Global
Geophysics class, GEOL 440. Global
Geophysics shed a different light on physics as a whole for me and it was
incredibly refreshing to finally apply all the concepts I had learned from my
previous classes.
The second is University
Physics III, PHYS 260. It's one of my favorites because it inspired my interest
in my research project (shout-out to Maxwell's equations) and I had a fantastic
professor who made the class really enjoyable!
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| Her Meowjesty, Miss Mochi |
What are some of your interests outside of school
and physics? What are your hobbies? How do you like your eggs in
the morning?
Some of my interests are my cat
(her name is Mochi, she's super cute), cheerleading (fun fact: I was a JMU
Varsity cheerleader for 3 years), and I love going to music festivals! I like all types of music festivals, and the
last one I went to was Moonrise back in August.
I hope to go to SXSW or Lollapalooza sometime in the future!
I also like my eggs fried, with
a soft yolk, on avocado toast.
What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of my job as a
tumbling instructor at a summer sports camp called Woodward. When it comes to
tumbling, kids must overcome several obstacles, mainly their own fear and lack
of self-confidence. Being able to help children achieve new skills, giving them
the confidence they need, and providing them with an experience that they'll
always remember is so incredibly rewarding. Positively impacting the youth is such a
crucial factor in building a progressive future, and I will always be proud to
contributing to that!
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| Presenting some nifty thermodynamics |
