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In the first episode of , we meetÌýDr. Margaret Murnane, one of the world’s leading experts in ultrafast laser and x-ray science. Join us to learn about her improbable journey from growing up in the Irish countryside to developing the microscopes of the future and cultivating the world’s next generation of physicists.

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Terri Fiez

Hello science fans, creative thinkers and lifelong learners and welcome to Buff Innovator Insights. I'm your host Terri Fiez, vice chancellor for research and innovation at the ºÚÁϳԹÏ. Thanks for joining me for the very first episode of the very first season of our new podcast. The Buff Innovator Insights Podcast is for science nerds, academics, renaissance thinkers, students, entrepreneurs, rule breakers, the restless and just adjust curious. In my role at ºÚÁϳԹÏ, I get to work side-by-side with some of the brightest, most creative and most interesting people you can imagine. Getting to know these researchers, scholars and artists energizes me and gives me new ideas and inspires me every day. I've always wanted to share the amazing stories and the feeling of excitement with others and I finally found a way. Buff Innovator is sites is a backstage, behind the curtain up close and personal introduction to some of the most innovative, groundbreaking, earth-shattering ideas in the world.

Even better, you'll join me in this unique opportunity to learn about the people behind the scientific advances, how they got their start, how they eventually became world changers and how their efforts are making tomorrow better for all of us. Since this is our very first episode, it seems only fitting to choose a guest who epitomizes what this podcast is all about. My guest today, Dr. Margaret Murnane is truly one of a kind. She's a distinguished professor of physics and a fellow of JILA, which is a joint institute of CU-Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She also serves as director of the STROBE Science and Technology Center, a national science foundation center that is building the microscopes of tomorrow. She has been recognized with the words like the Benjamin Franklin Medal in physics, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy Inventors, a MacArthur fellowship and too many others to list.

Dr. Murnane is one of the world's leading researchers in laser science and technology with research interests that include ultra-fast laser and x-ray science, ultra-fast femtosecond to attosecond dynamics in molecular and material systems and the development of tabletop coherent x-ray sources and their application in science and technology. Wow, that's a mouthful. That sounds complicated, doesn't it? Don't worry. You don't have to be a physicist to follow this podcast. We'll talk to Dr. Murnane about those technical topics at the core of her work. After all, it isn't a stretch to say that her work is changing the future of everything from microscopes to manufacturing. But we'll also talk to her about her fascinating turning from rural Ireland to her current position as a global leader in her field, how her personal experience shaped her, not only into a renowned physicist, but into a pioneer in providing equity and opportunity through her research and teaching and how our discoveries, the work of her center and eventually the innovations of her students will change the world. Let's go ahead and dive in. I can't wait to introduce you to Dr. Margaret Murnane.

Well, Margaret, I'm really excited to talk to you today and it was fun hearing about how you grew up and ended up in the United States and have become a world-class researcher and someone that's so committed to your students. So tell me a little bit about when you were a child growing up in Ireland, you lived in a rural area. What was Ireland like at that point in time?

Margaret Murnane

Thanks Terri. I'm delighted to share some of my experiences growing up. I was very fortunate to grow up in the Irish countryside and to have amazing parents. Neither my mother or my father had a chance to attend college, but they really loved learning and they were lifelong learners and great inspirations for my brother and myself. So we had the chance of attending