How to Build a Career at the Frontiers of Physics | Dr. Jessica Esquivel

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In this episode of Go! For Launch, we meet Dr. Jessica Esquivel, a particle physicist working at a national lab who’s on the front lines of unlocking the secrets of the quantum realm. From studying muons and magnetic fields to dreaming about teleportation and time travel, Jessica shares what it’s like to be part of some of the most complex and collaborative scientific efforts in the world.

Jessica takes us inside the Muon g-2 experiment—an ambitious collaboration involving a massive magnetic ring, intense particle beams, and hundreds of scientists all working together to test the limits of the Standard Model of particle physics. She also opens up about her unconventional path into science, the importance of representation, and how asking so-called “stupid” questions might just lead to world-changing discoveries.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. How muons may hold clues to undiscovered particles and new physics

2. Why failure and curiosity are essential tools for scientists3. How quantum physics connects to futuristic ideas like time travel

4. What it’s really like to work on large-scale, interdisciplinary experiments

5. How high-energy physics and AI are working together to push discovery forward

Timestamps:

00:01:49 – What it means to be a particle physicist

00:03:16 – The power of representation and sci-fi inspiration

00:05:56 – Building and working with massive detectors

00:08:00 – Busting the lone genius myth in science

00:09:03 – The next generation of neutrino experiments

00:11:27 – Why physics is getting more interdisciplinary

00:13:25 – What is a muon—and why study it?

00:16:43 – Quantum fluctuations and virtual particles

00:18:09 – The three frontiers of high-energy physics

00:21:30 – Could this research lead to time travel?

00:23:28 – The role of failure in scientific discovery

00:26:22 – How AI and quantum computing are reshaping physics

00:30:23 – Redefining success in experimental physics

00:32:24 – What comes after Muon g-2?

00:37:21 – Why the future of physics is all about neutrinos

00:40:06 – Transferable skills and careers beyond the lab

00:43:12 – How particle physics tools could transform everyday life

00:45:33 – Final thoughts from Jessica

Helpful Links:

Careers in national labs:

https://www.energy.gov/science/careers

Muon g-2 experiment: https://muon-g-2.fnal.gov/

Intro to particle physics: https://www.fnal.gov/pub/science/

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