News

Whether modeling the behavior of atoms in a computer simulation or exploring the next generation of cancer treatments, St. Olaf College students Sonja Ebey ‘27 and Benji Zupfer ‘27 have found different ways to pursue the same goal: using physics to better understand and improve the world around them. 

Their commitment to research and academic excellence has earned each of them a 2026-27 Rossing Physics Scholarship, a competitive award from the Thomas D. Rossing Fund for Physics Education that recognizes outstanding undergraduate physics students from colleges affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

For Ebey, a mathematics and physics major with an engineering studies concentration, her $10,000 award represents recognition of years spent engaging with challenging scientific questions through research both on and off campus. 

“It means a lot to me to have my work in physics — and relatedly in math — recognized,” she says. “I’ve had a lot of research experiences both at St. Olaf and through repeated internships with the Los Alamos National Laboratory. What I enjoy most about this field is the satisfaction I get from solving a complicated, time-intensive problem — something that I get to do a lot in the classroom and over the summers.”

Ebey has spent the last three summers conducting molecular dynamics simulations to study how atoms interact and how materials fracture under different conditions at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. At St. Olaf, she has conducted research with Associate Professor of Biology and Physics James Demas on magnetoreception in turtles and with Professor of Physics Brian Borovsky ’94 to achieve super-low friction in the microscale. 

She credits St. Olaf’s emphasis on undergraduate research with shaping her academic aspirations. 

“The professors are wonderful, and the classes go super in-depth on their topics, but I think the single most significant thing for developing my interest in physics was having an active, hands-on research experience,” Ebey says. “At St. Olaf, those research experiences are available to students at the very earliest stages — I did my first research experience January term of my first year with [Demas] looking at if turtle eyes respond to applied magnetic fields, and that really inspired me and gave me the foundation to pursue physics research at a higher level in my sophomore and junior years.”

Ebey’s current intention is to continue on to graduate school and eventually earn a PhD — although she is still split between mathematics and physics.

“I got into physics because I love math, and you use a lot of math in physics — but I stayed because it’s fun,” she says. “If physics beats out my first love, I imagine I will stay in the materials or physical chemistry side of the field, since that is what I have been studying over the past three years.”

Like Ebey, Zupfer says research opportunities and faculty mentorship at St. Olaf helped to define his interest in physics. A religion and physics major also with an engineering studies concentration, he plans to use his $5,000 award to pursue a PhD in medical physics, in the hope to improve cancer treatments. 

“Receiving this scholarship means the world to me,” Zupfer says. “Classes usually move you from one confusing topic to the next, and it can be really hard to stop and appreciate how much you’ve learned along the way. This scholarship validates all those long nights spent studying for quizzes and preparing research projects.”

His fascination with physics began in a high school classroom, where learning the mathematical principles behind everyday phenomena transformed the way he viewed the world. 

“I started seeing physics everywhere in life and it was like a new lens to see the world was there,” he says. “The walls supporting huge floors, tossing my pencil up and down in the air, the clock ticking, the ballpoint pen I was writing with — literally everything around me was thanks to physics.”

His initial curiosity has since evolved into a passion for medical physics.

“In medical physics, you live at the intersection of science, medicine, and patient care, while also doing a little bit of everything that needs attention in the clinic,” he says. “I’m focused on radiation therapy physics and want to work in a hospital to create treatment plans, ensure treatment machines operate properly, and conduct research to improve patient outcomes.”

Zupfer’s research experiences include participation in the SUPERS@PENN program at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has studied proton beam simulations for FLASH therapy, an emerging form of radiation treatment. He has also worked with Demas to conduct magnetoreception research through St.  Olaf’s Directed Undergraduate Research program, presenting the team’s novel findings at the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco last year. This summer, he is serving as a Summer Fellow in the Radiation Oncology Department at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, where he is researching online adaptive proton therapy (oAPT). 

“[oAPT] research aims to create safer treatment plans while the patient is in the treatment room,” Zupfer explains. “It uses in-room imaging and auto-segmentation to compensate for everyday anatomical variations, which optimizes tumor targeting and healthy tissue preservation. If implemented, oAPT would allow treatment to continue as planned, even with severe anatomical changes from day to day. Working in a clinical setting every day is a valuable experience as an undergraduate, and reinforces my desire to continue in the field.”

In addition to his clinic and classroom responsibilities, Zupfer also serves as a Society of Physics and TEAM-UP Student Officer and leads Physics TA help sessions.

Both scholarship recipients point to the close-knit community within St. Olaf’s physics department as a defining part of their undergraduate experience. 

“I owe a lot of my understanding of physics to my classmates here,” Zupfer says. “The physics department is so close to one another because of our small class sizes. We overlap in core courses, electives, labs, and community events, such as picnics and weekly phtea. When you have a community that challenges, supports, and enriches you, it’s much easier to put yourself out there to make mistakes.”

Ebey echoes those sentiments.

“The faculty are so supportive of everything we as students do and want to go after, and were in fact the ones who really pushed me to even apply for this award. I kept running into physics professors in the hallways who would be like, ‘Sonja, you should apply for the Rossing Scholarship,’ and they helped me through the process.”

Outside of their academic hours, Ebey and Zupfer both find enjoyment in engaging with extracurricular activities. For Ebey, this means spending “as much time as possible” dancing with the St. Olaf Company dance. Zupfer enjoys volunteering through St. Olaf EMT and leading small group Bible study with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. 

For both students, the Rossing Physics Scholarship recognizes accomplishments already achieved while also affirming the paths they hope to follow after graduation. As they prepare to apply to graduate school, they plan to continue asking difficult questions, pursuing meaningful research, and building on the opportunities that first took shape in St. Olaf’s classrooms and laboratories.