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What she does
Janet works to explain why regular patterns form in experiments, and in nature. (At the beach, for instance, regular ripples form in the sand even though waves of all shapes and sizes wash over them.)

How she got into science
Both Janet's parents are chemists who love science. And a great high school teacher inspired her to study physics in college.

Favorite accomplishments
Janet liked using math and physics to explain why star-shaped waves form around ping pong balls.

She also enjoyed figuring out how sandbars may form. It was fun, she says, because sand doesn't act like a solid, a liquid or a gas.

In her free time
Janet likes to ski, go to the beach and play basketball with her husband and daughters, Sophie and Anna.

Quote
"A linear world would be boring."