Kirk Lancaster Currently a Knight-Hennessey fellow at Stanford Law

In the Engel Group, I work on Optical Resonance Imaging (ORI), a new spectroscopic technique to provide sub-diffraction-limited resolution on an ultrafast timescale. ORI, which draws inspiration from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), uses a version of a traditional three-pulse photon echo experiment to collect wide-field superresolution images with femtosecond temporal resolution. With ORI, we will directly image transient species and achieve a better understanding of exciton dynamics at semiconductor defects.

My academic and professional experiences have taught me that science, in practice, occurs within social and political contexts. My second major in Law, Letters, and Society has taught me to understand institutions and organizations and the roles of individuals in them; my previous research in China taught me how science establishes relationships beyond cultural and linguistic barriers. Understanding such social and political contexts is undoubtedly important in addressing the uncertainty of the future of scientific advancements and their impacts on society. In this vein, I have conducted an extended independent research project on the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention, an international arms control agreement increasingly dependent on technical experts. In areas like this where breakthroughs in science have important global security consequences, scientists and politicians both find themselves with a duty to come to the table and work together.