As the second non-US scientist to hold the spokesperson post, what challenges do you face?

I've been at D0 since 2001. Since then, non-US contribution to D0 has increased significantly. Currently, about half the physicists on the experiment are from outside the United States. The challenge is navigating the different academic cultures and funding schemes to bring these groups together.

What has been your most exciting scientific endeavour?

At the former Large Electron–Positron collider at CERN [the particle-physics lab near Geneva, Switzerland], and now at the Tevatron accelerator at Fermilab, our research has focused on proving or disproving the existence of the Higgs boson, an elusive particle whose predicted existence may explain how elementary particles acquire mass. It is the most exciting and important thing I've been involved with during my career.

D0 is set to end in 2010; will you be the last spokesperson appointed?

Not necessarily. We are approved until 2010 and expect to run through most of 2011. Currently, we have taken only half the data we expect to take by 2011. The machine has improved so much over the years, resulting in many more proton–antiproton collisions and leading us to take ten times more data now than at first. So data analysis from D0 will continue for many years.

So D0 is still quite active?

Yes. In many areas of research at D0, we've published only 20% of what we expect to. There is a lot of physics out there — which is exciting for us and our students.

Has the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) usurped talent from D0?

The main challenge is balancing manpower between the Tevatron, currently the highest-energy running particle accelerator in the world, and the start-up of the LHC experiments [at CERN], as many of us work on both LHC and Tevatron experiments. However, any competition is positive. Success of the LHC is extremely important for the field of particle physics. We are all in the same boat.

What is the main goal for D0 before it ends?

As theoretical predictions point to a Higgs boson in a mass range accessible to the Tevatron, we may be able to exclude its existence in this mass range or see the first evidence for its existence.