People Behind the Science Podcast Stories from Scientists about Science, Life, Research, and Science Careers · Dr. Marie McNeely, featuring top scientists speaking about their life and c

Unraveling the Mysteries of the Particle Nature of Dark Matter - Dr. Djuna Croon

September 1, 2025·47 min·4 clips

Juno Krohn reveals we know dark matter exists but not what it is—and she's hunting for clues.

Dr. Juno Krohn, an associate professor at Durham University, discusses her research into dark matter and her career path in theoretical physics. Host Dr. Marie McNeely guides a conversation that blends personal history with scientific exploration. Krohn explains her focus on dark matter, the mysterious substance inferred from gravitational effects but not yet directly observed. She describes her work on using gravitational microlensing—where concentrations of matter bend light—to study the clumpiness of dark matter structures. Krohn shares that her interest in physics was sparked by quantum mechanics in secondary school, not from a childhood dream. She earned her bachelor's in the Netherlands, a master's at King's College London, and a PhD at the University of Sussex after the Higgs boson discovery. Her postdoctoral research took her to Dartmouth College and then TRIUMF in Vancouver, where her focus on dark matter solidified. A key insight is that studying dark matter clumps through lensing today can reveal information about the physics of the universe when it was less than one second old. Krohn recounts nearly publishing a major error in her first PhD project by mixing up conventions in cosmic inflation calculations. She highlights a successful collaboration born from a virtual conference during the pandemic, leading to 11 papers on how gravitational wave data can probe stellar evolution and black hole formation. Krohn also mentions recent work on "dark dwarfs," failed stars that could capture dark matter, which began as an undergraduate project. The episode has a conversational and educational tone, blending personal anecdotes with clear explanations of complex physics. Listeners interested in astrophysics, dark matter, or personal career journeys in academia would enjoy this episode. Those seeking highly technical debates or experimental results might find it less focused on specific data.

As heard by us

A dark matter interview that balances the science with the realities of a research career.

The episode follows Dr. Juno Krohn as she talks through why dark matter is so hard to study, and why the question of clumpiness still matters.

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Want dark matter explained without losing the scientist behind the science?

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