I am currently a physics graduate student, and as such physics is a large part of my life.
LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory)
This is where I've been working since I began my graduate studies here at MIT. LIGO is a large NSF-sponsored experiment whose purpose is to demonstrate the feasibility of interferometer-based detection of gravitational radiation, and has a sensitivity which may be able to observe some of the strongest signals. I work with the burst data analysis group under the advising of MIT Professor Erik Katsavounidis. Most people are just waiting for us to see something.
CLEO III
I was fortunate to be accepted into Cornell's Laboratory of Elementary and Particle Physics REU program during the summer of 2002. While there, I worked on Upsilon spectroscopy using CLEO III data with the rare hadronic decay group. The decays are called rare for a reason! My mentor during the summer was Dr. Todd Pedlar, then a postdoc at the Ohio State University, and now a faculty member at Luther College. I was able to continue my research through my senior year at the University of Chicago, where I wrote a senior thesis under the guidance of Professor Jonathan Rosner. I learned a great deal that summer, so if you're an undergrad in the sciences, go apply for a summer REU!
SPADUS (Space Dust), Cassini:HRD (High-rate Detector), Stardust:DFMI (Dust Flux Monitor Instrument)
These space-based instruments all use a film-based approach to respond to dust in their respective locations. SPADUS flew on the ARGOS satellite, characterizing dust in low earth orbit for some years. The HRD aboard NASA's Cassini mission will be able to measure the large anticipated dust flux while the Cassini spacecraft explores the rings of Saturn (ETA: June 2004!). The DFMI aboard Stardust (also NASA) served a similar purpose when the spacecraft made it's rendezvous with a comet early this year. The technology for these dust-detectors was developed at the University of Chicago by late scientist J.A. Simpson, and Dr. Tony Tuzzolino, with whom I worked for a few years as an undergraduate. Most of my time was spent collecting and analyzing SPADUS data, as the other instruments had yet to reach their location.