During his junior year of his computer science undergrad work at the University of Massachusetts, Trace Tessier took a special relativity elective and discovered the astonishing world of Einstein’s spacetime. Captivated, he went on to obtain his master’s degree in physics from Creighton University while serving in the U. S. Air Force.  After completing his tour of duty, he earned his PhD at the University of New Mexico – writing his dissertation “Complementarity and Entanglement in Quantum Information Theory” under the guidance of Dr. Ivan Deutsch.

Trace began his teaching career while still a graduate student – when he stepped in to teach an introductory astronomy course with no previous exposure to the topic – and discovered he loved it.  He has since gone on to teach a wide array of physics and astronomy courses at multiple colleges and universities in New Mexico and Connecticut.

In addition to teaching, Trace has held several research positions at various institutions. Following a postdoc at New Mexico Resonance investigating the physical underpinnings of MRI-imaged granular flows, he spent five years as a scientific programmer at Senior Scientific, LLC.  There, he created computer algorithms to solve the magnetic inverse problem in support of an effort to use magnetized nanoparticles in the diagnosis and treatment of numerous diseases.  He has also worked as a Research Analyst at the MIND Research Network for Neurodiagnostic Discovery where he developed software to statistically analyze and segment MRI brain scans to create new and enhance existing diagnostic and medical image analysis tools. Trace refers to these experiences often when teaching - drawing connections between classroom learning and the real-world practice of scientific inquiry whenever possible.