Nuclear Chemist or Radiochemist?

The two fields can be confused, and they are certainly related. Nuclear chemistry is the study of the atomic nuclei by the use of chemistry. This can mean studying a nucleus by the use of chemical methods, or it can just mean bringing a chemist's intuition and training to a nuclear physics problem. Radiochemistry can be broadly defined as the chemistry of radioactive substances. I like to do both.

I obtained my Bachelor of Arts degree in 1995 from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. My thesis was on time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy of chromium pentacarbonyl. While at Reed, I was the operations supervisor for the Reed College Reactor Facility. A great little 250kW research reactor.

I then went on to get my Ph.D. in 2001 from the University of California, Berkeley. My dissertation was on the chemical properties of the group five and group seven elements, focusing mostly on elements 105 and 107. I also studied some aspects of radiopharmacology, including novel production methods of radioisotope generation. Glenn T. Seaborg, Nobel laureate, was an original member of my dissertation committee, but sadly he passed away before seeing the end of my research.

I have also worked at the Institute for Radiochemistry, Technical University of Munich with the Director Andreas Tuerler. My work at the institute involved heavy element chemistry and neutron scattering. We developed plans for a new beamline and focusing element at the FRM-II research reactor. This beamline was for a prompt gamma-ray neutron activation analysis end-station that was being developed concurrently. Now I work in the Chemistry, Biology, and Nuclear Science Division at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a radiochemist.

A list of my Publications and a complete list of all my Abstracts and Reports that I could find.

My Curriculum Vitae is available upon request