Back
Students
‘Science on Saturday’ extends into March in Tracy
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) popular outreach series, “Science on Saturday,” will continue its programming into March at the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts in Tracy, California. The talks are scheduled for March 2 and 9 and will focus on the theme “Magic of Materials.” The talks, which are geared toward middle and high school students, will begin at…
Lawrence Livermore’s popular 'Science on Saturday' lecture series returns to Las Positas College
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) popular lecture series, “Science on Saturday,” returns Feb. 3 and runs through Feb. 24. The series offers four different lectures with the theme, “Magic of Materials.” Each lecture is presented by leading LLNL researchers who are joined by high-school science teachers. Below is the schedule of lectures, which can also be…
Watching aluminum’s reaction under extreme pressure
Understanding laser material interactions has applications that include inertial confinement fusion, material research and equation of state studies. Laser ablation, and specifically increasing the pressure that can be achieved from a laser system, is a longstanding topic of scientific research with implications ranging from damage in layered devices like solar cells and…
Radiochemistry intern digs deep to prevent the spread of nuclear waste
The groundbreaking discoveries and scientific advancements that take place at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and across the broader national laboratory system rely on the passage of information from tenured staff scientists to new interns and early career scientists. This past summer, Zachary (Zach) Murphy, a Ph.D. student studying chemistry at the…
Two selected as Graduate Student Research program recipients
Two graduate students have earned Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program awards to perform their doctoral dissertation research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The prestigious award helps cover living expenses and travel for 60 students from universities across the nation. Their proposed research projects…
Summer student work helps calculate neutron-capture reactions
Neutron-capture reactions on unstable nuclei play a key role in the production of heavy elements in the universe and provide vital diagnostics for reaction networks related to stockpile stewardship. However, these reactions cannot be measured directly because they involve radioactive nuclei. Lawrence Livermore researchers have performed indirect measurements to constrain…
Understanding the plasticity of diamond for improved fusion ignition
Alex Li, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) summer student in the Computational Chemistry and Materials Science Summer Institute, recently led a study published in the journal Matter to investigate the evolution of plasticity in diamond along different loading orientations and the effects that voids (pores) within the material can have on stresses within the…
Three graduate students earn awards to work at Lawrence Livermore
Three graduate students have earned Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program awards to perform their doctoral dissertation research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). They are three among the 87 graduate students representing 33 states for the SCGSR program’s 2022 Solicitation 2 cycle. Through world-class training and…
Beating the odds: Former Energetic Materials Center intern named U.S. Air Force Cadet of the Year
Second Lt. Hannah Fletcher, a 2021 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) summer intern, has been named the 2022 United States Air Force (USAF) Cadet of the Year. This award recognizes the best cadet in an Air Force commissioning program based on military performance, academics and physical fitness. LLNL’s ROTC internship…
Understanding how radionuclides move
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) intern Jordan Stanberry is spending his summer examining pond sediments to better understand groundwater contamination from decades-old nuclear tests. A chemistry graduate student from the University of Central Florida (UCF), Stanberry is participating in an eight-week Glenn T. Seaborg Institute (GTSI) internship program. The…
LLNL intern fabricates carbon aerogel structures for energy-storage applications
A visit to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) last summer by a university professor led to a unique internship opportunity for an undergraduate student this summer: helping LLNL scientists fabricate higher-performing carbon aerogel structures for electrodes and other energy-storage applications. In 2021, Professor Anthony Santamaria from Western New England (WNE…
Making it count: Rebuilding infrastructure at the Nuclear Counting Facility
When Daniel Martin put the finishing touches on an autonomous vehicle robot, complete with an ultrasonic sensor to detect and evade obstacles, he knew he wanted to become an engineer. A high school student at the time, he was fascinated by the design and functionality of robots. Fast forward several years, and Martin is now a second-year electrical engineering Ph.D…
Lab's ACT-UP awards focus on collaborative research
With a focus on increasing joint research efforts between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and universities, the Lab’s Weapon Physics and Design (WPD) Academic Collaboration Team (ACT) University Program has awarded this year’s ACT-UP awards. Now in its second year, the ACT-UP awards were created to encourage and advance strategic partnerships among…
Former LLNL intern makes history when she is named first Black woman to lead brigade at Naval Academy
Sydney Barber, former intern at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is making history at the United States Naval Academy. It was recently announced that 1st class midshipman Barber will become brigade commander next semester, the highest leadership position in the brigade, making her the first Black woman to be named in the role. The first female brigade…
Inspiring future physicist while exploring dark energy
Doctoral student Victor Baules is spending his summer exploring the connection between dark energy and the expansion of our universe, but due to the pandemic, his research fellowship is more down-to-earth, taking place from his home in Alabama. Baules’ research trajectory in high-energy theory aligns with astrophysics research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory …
Summer students shine in desalination research
Capacitive deionization (CDI) is an emerging class of water desalination technologies that use cyclic charging and discharging of electrodes to reduce or enrich the salinity of incoming water. The desalination characteristics of CDI are strongly influenced by the resistive components of the system. To better understand this process, a team of Lawrence Livermore National…
Summer scholar reels in ‘STRIPED FISH’ for NIF
In high school, Liz Grace thought physics was boring and instead considered studying psychology or music. But then a college professor inspired Grace to see the wonders of physics. Today, as a National Ignition Facility (NIF) & Photon Science Summer Scholar, she’s helping to design and build a diagnostic instrument that could become a revolutionary measurement tool for…
PLS wraps up summer student programs
Approximately 1000 students came to the Laboratory this summer to engage in work-study employment in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and administrative fields. PLS hosted a number of these students through its summer student programs (described below). Nuclear science and security The Glenn T. Seaborg Institute hosted 12 students this summer, including 8…
Active Optimization of Chemical Catalysts
Drastic changes in climate and global losses in biodiversity are increasing the need to shift the incumbent energy and chemical infrastructure from a fossil-fuel based system to a sustainable-energy based system. Such a system will require that the production of fuels and chemicals use only sustainable energy (e.g., solar) and simple, abundant feedstocks like carbon…
Department of Energy's Dot Harris honored for blazing path for women
LaDorris "Dot" Harris, director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the Department of Energy, was recently honored at the EmpowHer Institute's Girls to Greatness Luncheon, "Dream Big, Reach Higher," in Beverly Hills, California. The mission of theEmpowHer Institute is to empower girls and womento seek fulfilling and productive lives by helping them gain the…
