Perri Max Zilberman is a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the field of cosmic rays—high-energy particles constantly bombarding Earth. His work is on understanding why there are some parts of the sky where we see more cosmic rays and some parts of the sky where we see fewer. Perri enjoys weaving together insights from a variety of fields to get the full picture—in the process, understanding particle acceleration in extreme environments, how cosmic rays move through the galaxy, and all the environments that cosmic rays might encounter on their long journey to Earth. The field’s dynamic nature, driven by new data from advanced detectors that continually deepen our understanding, brings absolute joy to him.
Perri first embarked on his research journey in high school. His work on exoplanets not only interested him but he was also able to contribute to some amazing work. To pursue something different, he joined the DUNE collaboration during his undergrad at Stony Brook University. Perri says that the exposure made him realize that “I enjoy working as part of a larger collaboration—it really feels like I’m part of a huge team of scientists, all working towards a common goal.”
“I love being able to work on particle astrophysics as a part of such an amazing collaboration!”
Perri Zilberman
His passion for astronomy led him back to the field, first with the Fulbright U.S. Student Program at DESY Zeuthen in the HESS collaboration, and now with the IceCube Collaboration at UW–Madison. He says, “I love being able to work on particle astrophysics as a part of such an amazing collaboration!”
He loves doing street photography. Perri says, “I find that street photography forces me to look at the world in a different way than I usually do, and you have to be quick if you want to get a good photo too!” He has also done some astrophotography in the past. Additionally, he enjoys doing science outreach, saying it “hopefully helps others see how amazing the Universe we all live in really is.”
For aspiring research students he emphasizes that setbacks are inevitable. Since research, by definition, is doing something that no one’s done before, he says, “Being able to find and then solve these problems is part of what makes research so exciting!”