Fermilab scientist Pushpalatha Bhat has been elected to the American Physical Society Council of Representatives for a four-year term. She represents the Forum on Physics and Society on the Council.
The 32-member APS Council of Representatives focuses on all matters of APS science and membership, including science policy. Responsibilities of the council include establishment and oversight of APS publications, approval of policy statements and strategy, and admission of members and election of fellows, among others.
Bhat previously served as the chair of the APS Forum on Physics and Society, which has about 6,000 members, and on the APS Governance Committee. As a member of the APS Council of Representatives, Bhat will work to ensure that the associated Forum on Physics and Society continues to be a major contributor to the discussions and actions of the council on issues pertaining to science and society, to the scientific strategy of the APS, and science policy that affects science funding and the future of our society.
Bhat is currently deputy head of Fermilab Program Planning and an adjunct professor and graduate faculty at Northern Illinois University. She is also a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Since joining Fermilab in 1989, Bhat has led numerous projects. She is an active member of the CMS collaboration at CERN and contributed to the Higgs boson discovery and the study of its properties. She is a co-author of numerous peer-reviewed publications, has given many invited talks and public lectures, and has organized several international conferences and workshops.