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About
Dr. Herne with student Cattani using optical tweezer.
Dr. Catherine Herne is an optical physics Associate Professor at SUNY New Paltz. She teaches introductory to advanced physics courses and the advanced physics laboratory courses in the Physics and Astronomy Department, and performs research with undergraduate students in optical micromanipulation.
Dr. Herne with student Lucas Tracy.
Optical Micromanipulation Group
Optical tweezers, the trapping and manipulating of tiny objects, uses the momentum carried in shaped laser beams to explore the effects of light on matter. This way of controlling objects without physically touching them is used in a great variety of contexts such as stretching cells to learn about cell membranes, pushing nanospheres through constricted flow areas such as blood vessels, rotating asymmetric objects, and creating an entire “lab on a chip” where light makes many functions occur in a tiny area. Dr. Herne directs undergraduate students in their work on her research areas.
Background
Ph.D. University of Michigan
A.B. Bryn Mawr College.
Contact
Dr. Catherine M. Herne
Science Hall 275; 845-257-3742
hernec@newpaltz.edu