Pinshane Huang

Pinshane grew up in Arlington, Texas, and always being a bit of a science “nerd,” had a special bond with her dad in that very area. His exuberance for science raised her interest to the next level when he was simply answering her questions.

From Arlington, Pinshane went to Carleton College in cooler Northfield, Minnesota trying to choose between majoring in Anthropology or Physics. The deciding factor came after a summer program with Johns Hopkins University teaching science to gifted children, and the thought of traveling to far-off countries and the isolation was no longer as attractive as the possibility of teaching physics. This is where her passion lies.

Later, at Carleton College, Pinshane was accepted into the Cornell REU summer program to work with the Buhrman Research Group in AEP. She fell in love with Ithaca and the Cornell atmosphere and is now starting her 5^th year as a grad student with the Muller Research Group. Her focus of research is two-dimensional materials; recently she has been researching the imaging of glass (silicone oxide) on graphene.

When not at the microscope, Pinshane is an avid gardener. As a renter here in Ithaca, she has made do by creating patio gardens. She grows vegetables and flowers, and her tomato plants are as tall as she is now. In addition, she has a plot at the community gardens where she has picked up several tips and several freebies from other gardeners.

One fellow gardener, from Taiwan, found out that her parents, also from Taiwan, were coming to visit and offered seeds for them. Not understanding that exchanging seeds is a tradition, Pinshane was amazed to see the amount of seeds they brought for the exchange.