Black voices in physics: Alvine Kamaha

This interview is part of PT‘s “Black voices in physics” series of Q&As with Black physicists.

Even now, with social distancing and other safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, Alvine Kamaha spends her days underground. At the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota, she works as a calibration operations coordinator for LZ, a dark-matter experiment that will soon start collecting data.

Kamaha did her undergraduate work and earned a master’s degree in theoretical physics from the University of Douala in her native Cameroon, in western Africa. She received a second master’s degree from the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. She then pivoted to experimental physics, earning her PhD in astroparticle physics at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and staying on for a postdoc. In 2018 she moved to the University at Albany in New York for another postdoc.

PT: What barriers have you faced in getting to where you are?

KAMAHA: In Cameroon, there was a stereotype that women should not do physics. In Italy—outside of the ICTP— it was both gender and race: I felt I had to convince people that I deserved to be in physics. In Canada, it was the same story, although mostly it was about proving to my classmates that I deserved to be in the same class. The professors were better. It’s a struggle to always have to prove yourself. Now that I have my PhD, I no longer feel I have to do that. Today I may be ready to confront someone calmly if I hear something racist. I am more relaxed and more confident now.

PT: Do you feel comfortable in the LZ collaboration?

KAMAHA: It’s a friendly collaboration, and people are open-minded. I am on the collaboration’s equity and inclusion committee. This is my third experiment and the first one that has this type of committee. It makes a difference.

PT: What does the equity and inclusion committee do?

KAMAHA: Just the fact that it exists makes the collaboration more welcoming. We invite professionals to give talks on equity and inclusion issues. We have discussions about issues such as implicit bias, the gender gap, systemic racism, and about what actions we can take to help.

PT: How do you make the 25 May killing of George Floyd relevant to the scientific collaboration?

KAMAHA: The mere fact of talking about it is important. When I saw the video [of Floyd’s killing], I was upset. And it changes my views of my white colleagues even if I don’t want it to. It was good for me to vent my frustrations. And discussing the issue with my colleagues helped me not feel like it was me versus them. It supports good professional relations.

PT: Is there anything you’d like to add?

KAMAHA: Speaking to younger people, I would say, “Go for your goal! Your race doesn’t matter. Your gender doesn’t matter. What people say doesn’t matter. If you put in passion, professionalism, and determination, people will recognize that you deserve to be where you are, and most importantly, you will succeed.”