Faculty Directory

Biography, Education and Training

Baumbach is focused on new materials physics, with an emphasis on structural, magnetic and electronic states that derive from transition metal, lanthanide and actinide elements. To do this he follows an approach based on: (i) development of design principles; (ii) crystal growth methods; and (iii) elucidation of phenomena using scattering, electronic, and thermodynamic probes. All of these efforts depend on his robust crystal growth capabilities, which have established him as a front-line source of materials for international collaborations. He is also a champion for the advancement of society through science, where he regularly serves as a guest lecturer at schools and in public forums.

Education

1998 - 2002                 University of California, Santa Cruz, B.S. Physics

                                     Advisor: Professor Frank “Bud” Bridges

Topic: Probing Phonon Scattering Sites in the Thermoelectric Clathrates Eu8Ga16Ge30 and Sr8Ga16Ge30

2002 - 2004                  University of California, San Diego, M.S. Physics

2004 - 2009                  University of California, San Diego, Ph.D. Physics

                                     Advisor: Professor M. Brian Maple

Topic: Strongly Correlated Electron Behavior in Arsenic-Based and Thin Film Antimony-Based Filled Skutterudites

Postdoctoral Research

2009 - 2010                 University of California, San Diego

                                     Advisor: Professor M. Brian Maple

Topic: Strongly correlated electron physics and iron based superconductors 

2011 - 2014                 Director’s Funded Postdoctoral Researcher, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico

                                     Advisor: Dr. Eric Bauer

Topic: Relationships between Fermi surface and emergent behavior in strongly correlated f-electron materials

Academic Appointments

2023 – present           Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz

2020 – present           Associate Research Professor, Dept. of Physics, Florida State University

2019 – present           Research Faculty 2, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

2017 – 2020                Assistant Research Professor, Dept. of Physics, Florida State University

2014 – 2019                Research Faculty 1, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory