Ice in His Veins: Physics Professor Chills Out in the Lab and at the Rink

Many of Dr. Justin Perron’s fondest hockey memories involve bagels—lots and lots of bagels. An associate professor of physics at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), Perron is a Canadian transplant and hardcore hockey player. Although he now lives in a Southern California city better known for surfing lineups than hockey rinks, he stays connected to the ice through his research and recreational pursuits. 

Perron had a standard Canadian childhood, lacing up his first pair of skates shortly after he learned to walk. “I’ve seen photos of myself when I was like two holding a stick,” Perron says. “So, I was playing hockey even before I can remember.” 

Pick-up hockey games were the norm in Perron’s suburban Ontario neighborhood, and Perron’s older brother always dragged his younger sibling along to play goalie. “I was one of the youngest ones, so I was always getting thrown in the net and forced to play, even if I didn’t want to sometimes,” he says. 

But playing against the bigger kids paid off when Perron was recruited to play college hockey at SUNY Oswego in upstate New York. That’s where he developed a taste for bagels. Oswego’s rival was SUNY Plattsburg, and home games against the Plattsburg Cardinals were highly anticipated. “We always sold out against them, so there were a couple thousand fans packed into our small arena, and it was a ridiculously awesome atmosphere,” Perron says. 

At the time, the school had a longstanding tradition in which all the fans would throw bagels onto the ice when the home team scored their first goal. “They were the Cardinals, and it was to ‘feed the birds’ or some weird thing,” Perron says. “So, we scored that goal and then hundreds of bagels just start raining down on us.” 

Skating His Way Through College

Although Perron’s passion for hockey developed early in life, it took him longer to acquire an interest in science. Perron’s parents were both medical professionals—his father was a physician, and his mother was nurse—but they never pushed him toward a specific field. Instead, he stumbled into science because of a pragmatic decision he made in high school. 

In Ontario, high school students had to pass a minimum of six subject-based exams if they wanted to go to college. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I took all the hard ones,” Perron says. He assumed he would go back and take the easier exams if he did poorly. The “hard ones” turned out to be the science exams, and Perron scored well. 

After double-majoring in physics and mathematics at Oswego, Perron still wasn’t certain about his professional goals, but rather than take a shot at minor league hockey, he followed a former teammate to graduate school at SUNY Buffalo. It helped that Buffalo was a hockey hotbed, and Perron quickly joined a local recreational league.

In grad school, Perron discovered his passion for teaching while working as an instructional assistant. “I really enjoyed interacting with students and helping,” he says. “At times I considered leaving my PhD program and going to the teacher’s college.” 

Despite his doubts about physics, Perron persevered, landing a post-doctoral stint at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where he explored quantum mechanics and finally “fell in love with research.”

Keeping It Cool in California

His love of teaching and his newfound enthusiasm for quantum mechanics drew Perron to CSUSM, and in 2015, he packed up his hockey sticks and traded the snow and ice of upstate New York for the sun and sand of Southern California. While hockey rinks are few and far between in the San Diego area, CSUSM offered Perron a chance to pursue his research while also fulfilling his desire to teach. “Of all the opportunities I looked at, it had the best of both worlds,” Perron says. 

However, moving to a warmer climate didn’t mean Perron would entirely escape the freezing temperatures. His current research involves conditions considerably colder than the bitterest Ontario winters. In fact, his physics colleagues refer to his lab as “one of the coldest places in the universe.” Using what can best be described as a $500,000 refrigerator, Perron tests chips for quantum computers by cooling them to nearly absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius). That’s even colder than outer space. “By cooling them down, we can look at the physics of how individual electrons behave,” Perron says. 

The behavior of these electrons is important because they represent the language through which quantum computers will be programmed, similar to the way that ones and zeros are used to program contemporary computers.

When he isn’t chilling in his lab, Perron enjoys teaching and mentoring students. He “gets a kick out of” seeing students get excited about physics, and he loves it when they drop by his office to discuss their ideas. “Those are always the funnest parts of my job,” he says. 

Trading Winter Sports for Water Sports 

Perron’s research and teaching keep him busy, but he finds time to unwind at the local ice rink. He joined an adult hockey league soon after arriving in San Diego, and he plays at least once a week. With teammates from Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario, Perron stays connected to his Canadian roots. “I always joke that the rink is essentially the Canadian embassy,” he says. 

He realized he was in the right place when he overheard teammates engaged in a lively exchange about Canadian food. “There was like a 10-minute discussion of where the best poutine was,” he says. “It was like I found my people.” 

Like everyone else, Perron had to cool his heels at home during the pandemic. With rinks closed and no access to the ice, he turned to the waves for a physical outlet. However, the transition from winter sports to watersports wasn’t smooth. Paddleboarding proved particularly perplexing. “I’ve never been worse at a thing in my life,” he says. “Generally, I’ve been pretty athletic, and I can be okay at things, but I look like a fool.” Perron has had somewhat better luck with surfing. “I still suck at it, but I can tell I’m almost getting less sucky,” he says.

Trips to the beach helped Perron stay in shape, but he returned to the hockey rink as soon as it reopened. Hockey fuels his competitive nature in ways that surfing and research cannot. Even though games in the adult league don’t attract thousands of fans or culminate in a cascade of baked goods, the matchups give him something to look forward to, and being on the ice is as much of a psychological outlet as a physical one. “Getting out there is a huge escape,” Perron says. “You lose yourself in it.” 

If you are interested in learning more about physics research, check out this article about an astrophysicist’s quest to quantify nanoplastics in the Earth’s water systems.