My Story

Hi! I'm Dan Spencer, a graduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park pursuing my PhD in physics. My area of specialization is all things quantum: technology, sensing, computing, and more. I am currently exploring the use of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond as highly-sensitive probes to measure quantities like magnetic fields, temperature gradients, and even signals left by dark matter. You can find out more about the details of my research under the Research section.

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I first encountered physics in high school, where I fell in love with the analytical thinking and application of mathematics to solve real-world problems. However, I entered college at Tufts University thinking I was going to be a medical doctor, so I tailored my education to be that of a pre-med student. It took me some time in college to figure out what I wanted to study, starting out in biochemistry and then chemical physics, but by the end I left Tufts with a degree in physics (and Spanish, but that was more of a hobby).

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After graduating, I took a job at Brigham and Women's Hospital doing biophysical modeling work on hormone/protein binding systems in the endocrine system. During this time I applied to medical school but, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and I had time to think while in quarantine, I realized I wasn't truly interested in medicine and I made the decision to apply to physics PhD programs. I applied to various schools but the program at UMD fit my interests best and I decided to go there. For about a year before starting graduate school, I worked in an optical physics lab at Massachusetts General Hospital where I helped develop micron-sized, biocompatible semi-conducting disks for use in single-cell tagging and tracking applications. This research position was a bit more physics-oriented and my intention was to get more quantitative research skills before starting the PhD.

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Now I'm at UMD! I am not entirely sure what I would like to do with the PhD, but applying the latest advances in quantum computing to problems in finance really excites me. During the pandemic, I got very interested in trading and the financial markets, so combining my interests in physics and finance could be an interesting career path. I have also considered joining one of the many tech companies pursuing quantum technology, like IBM, Google, or IonQ. I've got time, though, so we'll see where the PhD takes me!

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In addition to my passion for physics and finance, I am also an avid language-learner and competitive ballroom dancer. I have always found foreign languages incredibly interesting and beautiful, so I spend my time learning (too many) different languages, including Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Welsh, Irish, and Russian. I am in no way fluent in any of them though! My main hobby - at least until the pandemic - was competitive ballroom dance, which I started my freshman year of college in 2014 and have stuck with ever since. Dance is never something that I thought I'd find myself doing, but it is a great way to relax, stay active, and lose yourself in for a few hours, not to mention that competing against others is always fun too. I hope to continue dancing and competing throughout my PhD, but that is yet to be determined. I'm excited to see what the next few years bring and I plan to keep this site updated with my latest thoughts, accomplishments, and more.