Students from the PSFC’s HEDP Division participated in the DOE NNSA Fellowship Review, showcasing research with national impact.
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Six students and Fellowship recipients from the Plasma Science and Fusion Center’s (PSFC) High-Energy-Density Physics (HEDP) Division attended the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship Review on June 25-27 in Washington, DC. Through the SSGF or Laboratory Residency Graduate Fellowships, these programs are providing full support of the students’ PhD work as well as professional development opportunities for pursuing degrees in stewardship science— work that is critical to ensuring the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons without relying on nuclear testing. Stewardship science encompasses fields that study nuclear science, materials under extreme conditions, or high energy density physics, with each discipline tackling research and engineering problems crucial to effective stewardship. As final-year fellows, Benjamin Reichelt and Justin Kunimune gave invited talks at this year’s review, while Skylar Dannhoff and Matthew Cufari presented posters.
Each Fellowship recipient will take part in at least one 12-week practicum at a DOE NNSA laboratory, an experience that offers students insight into how their scientific interests can translate to research areas of national importance. Practicums typically take place during the summer, and Dannhoff and Cufari are currently at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for theirs. Next summer, Audrey DeVault also plans to do her practicum at LLNL, while Foo will reside at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Kunimune, newly graduated, and Reichelt, expected to graduate in September, have been exemplary PSFC students. As their Fellowships conclude, both are set to begin exciting new chapters in their careers.
Johan Frenje, the head of the HEDP Division, said that “Having six Fellows [from one group] simultaneously has never happened before in the history of the NNSA’s Fellowship Program. I’m incredibly proud of them for their excellent work.”