Lasers, Z Pinches, and Nuclear Weapons: The Importance of Plasma Physics to the NNSA

This seminar will be conducted remotely. To request the Zoom link, please send an email to: [email protected]

About the Speaker:
Dr. Sarah Nelson, a nuclear and radiochemist, is Deputy Director of the Office of Experimental Science for the NNSA Office of Defense Programs. Sarah earned her BS from U. California Santa Barbara and doctorate from U. California Berkeley studying odd-Z transactinide compound nucleus reactions including the discovery of the new isotope 260Bh. Prior to joining NNSA, Sarah was the Roger Batzel Fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in nuclear chemistry diagnostic development for NIF and analysis of nuclear systems for domestic counterterrorism applications, co-discovering 14 new transactinide isotopes. Sarah also was selected as a Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellow of The National Academies in 2012. Prior to NNSA, Sarah was also with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on assignment with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. She has received numerous awards including the DTRA/US STRATCOM Center for Combatting Weapons of Mass Destruction Director’s Award, LLNL’s Excellence in Publication Award in Basic Science, and the Gordon Battelle Prize for Scientific Discovery.