Alumni Profile: Brian Larsen '00

Staff Scientist
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Majors: Physics/Math

What are you doing now?
I am currently a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. I design, build and fly spacecraft instrumentation for NASA, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation. This is a really exciting field as no two satellite missions are ever the same, and the data that come back are truly a national asset.

Tell us about yourself.
I grew up in Hood River and was one of those kids always riding bikes and taking things apart (sometimes putting them back together as well). At Linfield, I studied physics and mathematics and even spent a summer working in the observatory (yep, it used to be a working observatory before that side of campus existed). From Linfield, I (and my wife to be) headed to Montana State for graduate school. From there, it was a long road with a lot of school. We currently live in Los Alamos, NM, and we enjoy so many of the outdoor activities that are available here as well as at Linfield.

How did Linfield help prepare you for your career?
The small college attention and feel of Linfield really made everything seem possible. The academic preparation while not exceptionally detailed in any one part of physics was broad and prepared me for graduate school and beyond very well. The Linfield experience was so good that it was a shocker to learn that people at other colleges didn't necessarily have the same great experience.