Alvine Kamaha

Alvine Kamaha is a Cameroonian-born assistant professor of physics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Education Kamaha graduated from the University of Douala in Cameroon with undergraduate and master's degrees in theoretical physics.

She transitioned from theoretical to experimental physics when she went on to Queen's University for her Ph.D. in astroparticle physics.

Career While pursuing her Ph.D. at Queen's University, Alvine Kamaha worked at Sudbury's SNOLAB with Gilles Gerbier, Queen's Professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair. Gerbier studied dark matter particles, and Kamaha built a new apparatus to find those particles.

Kamaha is an assistant professor of physics at UCLA where she is the inaugural Keith and Cecilia Terasaki Chair in Physical Sciences. Kamaha's research group, ExCaliBUR (Experimental Detector Calibrations & Background Controls for Underground Particle Physics Research), focuses on developing technologies that can detect dark matter.

She is the recipient of the American Physical Society's 2024 Edward A. Bouchet Award for her contributions to uncovering dark matter in the universe and fostering diversity through mentorship. She is a role model for African girls who aspire to a career in science and a source of pride for Cameroon.

Selected publications

A. Kamaha, "The Quest for Dark Matter With LUX-ZEPLIN," Annual Conference and General Assembly of the African Astronomical Society, (AfAS-2022), March 2022.