Shelbi Jenkins and her cat, Beans SPIE's #FacesofPhotonics is sharing the story of Alaska-born Shelbi Jenkins, a PhD student studying at the University of Arizona's College of Optical Sciences. In the interview, Shelbi shares what she's working on in Bob Norwood's Magneto-Optics Lab at U of A, her most memorable outreach moment, and this adorable photo of her cat, Beans! 1. Tell us about when you first became interested in optics and photonics. As a part of my physics undergrad, I worked on a research project that looked at the industrial applications of ultra-fast laser ablation. That was when I was first exposed [to the field], and I decided that I wanted to learn more about optics and how it could be used. So, I decided to go to grad school and to study it! I am happy with my decision -- to me, photonics research feels like a nice balance between pure physics research and engineering. That is a nice perk considering I was never able to decide which I like...