By Veronica Villanueva and Sophie Wu
Physicist Anne Marie March has always been fascinated by atoms and molecules. As a child, she imagined them as small billiard balls, solid and striped spheres darting from one place to another. She was particularly fascinated by this phenomenon in liquids. Her father, who introduced her to science, was easily one of her greatest mentors and champions. He created a more elaborate and interesting learning environment as compared to her school’s standard science curriculum and further encouraged her to pursue her curiosity in the scientific field.
When March reached high school, she realized that her strength in mathematics was particularly useful in the realm of physics. She found herself at a crossroads, would she major in music or physics in college? Her decision became clearer after attending physics courses at College of the Holy Cross. She found herself craving to learn more after each class.
Dr. March received her bachelor’s degree in physics and was motivated to continue her studies at Stony Brook University’s graduate school. It was at Stony Brook that she became particularly interested in the idea of light. She loved optics in college and now wanted to work with lasers as well. She had the opportunity to work under Louis DiMauro at Brookhaven National Laboratory on intense field atomic physics using ultrashort, intense lasers. Although her PhD was delayed—due to her following DiMauro to Ohio State University—March was extremely grateful for the experience.
After graduating from Stony Brook in 2009 with her PhD, she met Linda Young, a scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, at a workshop in Brazil. Young was experimenting with x-ray science and, at the time, was looking for a postdoc with laser experience. Although March didn’t know much about x-rays, her previous work with lasers had given her experience in examining femtosecond time scales, which are relevant for the movement of atoms and molecules when interacting with light. As it turns out, an independent probe, such as x-rays, were very useful in helping closely examine and detect what was happening within these light-matter interactions. March ended up working as a postdoc in Young’s atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics group at Argonne. While she conducted research, March was also able to understand more about x-rays and came to love and appreciate synchrotrons and how useful they are as experimental tools.
After she completed her postdoc, she received funding which allowed her to stay at Argonne as a staff member in an AMO physics group where she still works now. March is currently working on research to expand upon time-resolved x-ray techniques to observe chemistry at the molecular level. She uses facilities, such as the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne to do her research. When needing to observe extremely fast motion, such as on the femtosecond time scale, she uses the x-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) which can be found in a variety of places around the world. She has already visited the ones in California and Germany to catch femtosecond changes; she is also currently waiting for their proposal to be accepted for them to visit the XFEL in Switzerland too. In short, March and her team are driving chemistry with optical lasers and using x-rays to see what’s happening with molecules in liquids.
When discussing the challenges she faced, Dr. March recalled how she pushed herself in graduate school. Dr. March calls herself an introverted person and she found it difficult to network and self-promote. But she saw graduate school as an opportunity to be more intentional about the route she chose to pursue, showing her dedication to her field. She says that while she may not be able to control the world, she can control how she reacts to it.
March also described some of her most rewarding moments. During her postdoc, she implemented a new kind of high power laser system at the APS at Argonne that could match the MHz repetition rate of the x-ray pulses provided by the synchrotron. This capability triggered the interest of other researchers and one team in particular reached out wanting to use the laser to do a time-resolved measurement with three x-ray techniques simultaneously (scattering, absorption and emission). March acknowledged that constructing the apparatus to achieve this would be difficult in the allotted time frame, but she forged ahead with determination, working hard with fellow group members to construct the endstation. The experiment was a success, and the participants were impressed with March’s efforts and instrumentation abilities. This success led to others, as more researchers were interested in the endstation. They brought new samples and scientific problems, which in turn gave March opportunities to learn more about complex chemistry while meeting great people along the way. Each success was a stepping stone to new connections and new ideas.
March’s main message to up and coming scientists is to understand that everyone forges their own path. Although you may not take the same route as others, it’s important to remain true to yourself. She used to worry about not following the crowd but as she reflects on her journey to receiving her position, she acknowledges that her journey makes her the scientist she is today. She also knows that, as a scientist and a mother, finding a healthy balance between work and home life is crucial. Dr. March feels that the work she does is not only interesting but useful, which brings her joy. She says that everyone will eventually find their own path in science and in life, based on what is most important to them and their values.
March then wraps everything up by saying that “every individual was made to do something, so they mustn’t let anyone keep them from doing what they were made to do.” She knows how easy it is to get discouraged, but everyone should learn to listen to their internal self. Not everything will feel easy, but if you are on the right path, you’ll feel that it’s right. We’re all ultimately our own billiard ball bouncing around and moving forward in our own direction within the chaotic home we call life, but we’ll all find our favorite pocket, even if it takes a few more strikes to get there.