The recent success of efforts by staff in the Accelerator-Based Low-Energy Program to produce element 116, a critical milestone in the search for element 120, has garnered much attention. An article about the achievement was recently published by the Washington Post (paywalled).
A second article, this one published by APS’s This Week in Physics, presents a brief overview of the search for superheavy elements, inspired by the latest LBNL results.
NSD’s Nuclear Data Group becomes the Nuclear Data Program
The Nuclear Science Division is pleased to announce that the Nuclear Data Group in the Accelerator-Based Low-Energy Program will be reclassified as the Nuclear Data Program, effective November 1st, 2024. This decision reflects the scientific and financial independence of the nuclear data efforts at LBNL.
The elevation of the Program also serves as recognition of its leading role in the national and international nuclear data communities, and the growth of nuclear data initiatives in basic and applied research. With this change comes the appointment of Prof. Lee Bernstein as the Nuclear Data Program Head and Mathis Wiedeking as his Program Deputy.
The program, with its strong connection to the UC Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering, will continue to address the data needs of the basic and applied nuclear science community while training the next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers.
2024 Berkeley Lab Director’s Awards honor PSA staff members
Congratulations to Physical Sciences Area staff members who have received 2024 Berkeley Lab Director’s Awards.
The Berkeley Lab Prize – Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed upon two of the Area’s senior scientists:
- Kevin Lesko, a Senior Physicist in the Physics Division and former spokesperson for LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Dark Matter Experiment, was honored for his “extraordinary contributions to pioneering neutrino and dark-matter experiments and establishing an international underground scientific laboratory for scientific explorations and STEM workforce training.”
- Kai Vetter, former head of the Nuclear Science Division’s (NSD) Applied Nuclear Physics Group, received the award in recognition of his “career-spanning achievements in radiation detection and imaging, his impact on science and society, and his commitment to developing the next generation of scientific leaders.”
The 2024 Director’s Awards for Exceptional Achievement were presented to PSA staff members and teams in several categories.
Ina Reichel, the ATAP Division’s IDEA, Outreach & Education Coordinator, received a 2024 IDEA Community Award “for collaborative, consensus-driven leadership and a combination of a scientific approach and tireless effort in driving positive change to make Berkeley Lab a more attractive and equitable workplace, as well as for extensive and selfless work in STEM outreach.”
A 2024 IDEA Community Award was also bestowed upon the NSD IDEA Council (2022) members Mark Bandstra (Research Scientist in the Applied Nuclear Physics Group), Heather Crawford (Senior Scientist in the Nuclear Structure research group), Tom Gallant (Division Deputy for Operations), and Ernst Sichtermann (Senior Scientist in the Relativistic Nuclear Collisions Program), who were honored “for championing the reduction of the stigma of mental illness by proposing a change to the Lab’s sick leave policy to explicitly support sick leave for mental illness.”
Paolo Ferracin, Senior Scientist and Program Deputy in ATAP’s Superconducting Magnet Program, received the 2024 IDEA Outreach Award “for exemplary dedication and commitment in proactive teaching and mentorship at levels ranging from high schools to graduate particle accelerator schools, offering education not available through traditional venues— in addition to a demanding job as a research leader.”
The 2024 Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in Safety was awarded to the Multi-Lab Safety Week Leadership Team – Asmita Patel (ATAP Division Deputy for Operations) and Patricia Thomas (former ATAP Safety Coordinator) – “for the visionary leadership that created ATAP Safety Day and evolved it into the present Multi-Lab Safety Week, which offers an annual safety-culture reset and enriched learning opportunities to multiple Divisions at Berkeley Lab and three other national laboratories.”
Berkeley Lab’s HL-LHC-AUP Cabling Core Team received a 2024 Director’s Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement “for leadership and performance in completing the large, complex, and technically challenging multi-year Cabling Task of the High-Luminosity LHC Accelerator Upgrade Project (HL-LHC-AUP). This DOE 413.3b project greatly enhances the LHC’s position as the forefront particle accelerator for high-energy physics.” The team members are Stephanie Chan Shum, Jean-Francois Croteau, Paolo Ferracin, Chris Georgiou, Hugh Higley, Andy Lin, Mike Naus, Asmita Patel, Ian Pong, Soren Prestemon, and Patricia Thomas from the ATAP Division; Elaine Buron and Elizabeth Lee from the Engineering Division; and George Fraley, Karen Lingua, and Brian Zatkow from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
The 2024 Director’s Achievement Awards ceremony will be held on Friday, November 8, at 3:00 PM PT via livestream video and in Berkeley Lab’s Building 50 Auditorium, where there will be a reception immediately following. Add this event to your calendar.
Passing of Rick Firestone
It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Rick Firestone on September 9th.
Rick was a titan in the nuclear data world. In addition to his seminal work in the 8th edition of the table of isotopes, Rick was a visionary regarding the importance of neutron capture and scattering data who constantly pushed the nuclear structure evaluation community to think outside of its normal confines. He was also a wonderful mentor with an insatiable curiosity and sense of humor. He will be sorely missed.
Fragments
Jennifer Pore, a Research Scientist in the Low Energy Nuclear Physics Program, was selected to receive funding through the DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program. Dr. Pore’s project, “Investigating the Fundamental Properties of the Heaviest Elements,” will be at the intersection of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry and utilize LBNL’s Berkeley Gas-Filled Separator (BGS) and FIONA devices to study the physical and chemical properties of Superheavy Elements. Funding for the five year award will be jointly provided by the DOE Office of Science Nuclear Physics and Basic Energy Sciences programs. Further details can be found here.
Lisa Schlueter, a Postdoc in NSD’s Neutrinos Program, won third place in the LBNL Research SLAM for her three-minute presentation, “Why our universe shouldn’t exist”. Lisa will advance to the regional Bay Area SLAM on October 3 to compete against the finalists from Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Sandia National Labs, and SLAC National Lab. Congratulations and good luck, Lisa!
Florian Jones, a Postdoc in NSD’s Relativistic Nuclear Collisions Program, received an ALICE 20204 thesis award for his dissertation “Probing the initial state of heavy-ion collisions with isolated prompt photons“. Florian received his PhD from Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany. His graduate career included a significant stay at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Congratulations also to graduating PhD student Ezra Lesser, from UC Berkeley, for his ALICE 2024 thesis award for his dissertation “”Measurements of jet substructure in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at ⎷sNN = 5.02 TeV with ALICE”. These studies reported in two publications were developed with RNC scientists. The results in pp are already published in JHEP and the publication on results in Pb-Pb collisions is in the final stages of approval and will be released over the summer. Photographs of the July 9th presentation ceremony and the full list of award winners are available at https://alice-collaboration.web.cern.ch/Thesis_award2024
Brian Quiter and Jayson Vavrek from NSD’s Applied Nuclear Physics Program celebrated service awards. Brian marked 15 years with LBNL, while Jayson marked 5 years.
Zhengwei Xue was hired as a Scientific Engineering Associate in the RNC Program. Joanna Szornel was promoted to Research Scientist in the Applied Nuclear Physics Program. Welcome, Zhengwei and congratulations to Joanna!
NSD received several new funding awards including one from the United States Nuclear Data Program (USNDP) to train the next generation of nuclear data evaluators, and a number of new projects supported by the National Nuclear Security Administration Office for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development.
It is with deep sadness that we have learned of the passing of Frank Stephens on Sunday, August 18, 2024. Frank will be remembered for the enormous impact on the field of Low Energy Nuclear Physics. He started at Berkeley Lab as a Research Chemist in 1955, became a Senior Scientist two years into his career at the Lab, and was appointed as a Distinguished Scientist in 1995 before retiring from a career with many highlights in 1997. Frank was an inspiration to those he worked with. He will be greatly missed. An obituary and further information can be found here.
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability Moments
IDEA-Related Efforts & Resources in the Division
At a recent all-staff meeting, Tom Gallant from NSD’s IDEA Council summarized the many IDEA-related resources, groups, and activities that anyone in the division can participate in. He also reminded everyone about the purpose and makeup of the IDEA Council, an all-volunteer team from NSD who help people in the division engage in IDEA activities and connect and coordinate NSD efforts with the rest of the Physical Sciences Area and the lab.
One of the Council’s ongoing initiatives is the Luminary Card program, a system for peer-to-peer recognition of actions and efforts that support an inclusive, diverse and equitable workplace climate in NSD. Anyone (everyone!) in NSD can give a Luminary card (available in physical and virtual flavors) to a colleague within NSD or the broader research community. Please visit the website to learn more.
For those who are looking to hire, since 2021 NSDhas made specific funding available to cover the cost of posting jobs on underrepresented minority-targeted job posting boards. NSD’s partners in HR can help you access these funds. All hiring managers should be aware of these resources and understand that it is expected to post your positions to attract a diverse applicant pool. Remember though that while we work to identify and mitigate as many barriers as possible, we need to be cognizant of our own implicit biases and how they can adversely affect an applicant’s chances of success.
Another resource for NSD folks is the Physical Science Workplace Life Committee. They are a committee of representatives from across the Physical Sciences area that works to explore and address issues affecting workplace quality of life. They address challenging topics such as childcare for LBNL employees, work-life balance, promotion guidelines and many, many more. The current members from NSD are the PSWLC chair Brian Quiter, and Dan Kasen. Topics can be raised by talking with Brian and/or Dan or via their online form.
The Employee Resource Groups at LBNL are groups of employees who join together based on shared characteristics or life experiences to provide fellowships, friendship and support, enhance career and personal development, and contribute to the organization’s vision and goals. ERGs promote diversity and equity by raising awareness and ensuring that group members have a voice in the organization. Anyone can join an ERG, even if their identity does not match the focus of the group.
There are also many other ways that individual staff within NSD engage in education and outreach programs, including through the K-12 STEM Education programs and LBNL volunteer portal. As a division NSD leads in the area of volunteering!
And just a final reminder that if you have any IDEA-related suggestions, opportunities, or other issues, the IDEA Council is here to help. We can always be reached at NSD-IDEA-Council@lbl.gov.
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