Evening with the Stars – July 11, 2025

Amy Furniss is an Associate Teaching Professor of Physics at UC Santa Cruz. Amy received her Physics PhD in 2013 from University of California in Santa Cruz. In addition to general research, Amy works to redesign introductory physics courses to a more student-centered structure, providing an inclusive and supportive classroom that is focused on growth mindset. Amy’s research focuses on gamma-ray astrophysics, active galactic nuclei, blazar environment, evolution and emission, extragalactic background light, intergalactic magnetic fields, extragalactic cosmic ray and photon propagation, relativistic acceleration mechanisms and non-thermal emission processes, with recent projects and interest turning to understand what gamma-rays from distant sources can tell us about the largest, emptiest spaces in the universe known as voids. She is currently the Spokesperson of the VERITAS Collaboration, working to lead the US into the next era of gamma-ray astronomy. Amy is dedicated to making the fields of physics and astrophysics open and accessible to everyone, independent of their background. As Director of the Cal-Bridge Summer Program, she works to help CSU physics, astronomy, mathematics and computer science students succeed in their pursuits of getting their PhD, and is dedicated to increasing student awareness of Impostor Syndrome within the physics and astronomy fields.