Dawn Shaughnessy | |
---|---|
![]() Shaughnessy in 2013 | |
Born | Dawn Angela Shaughnessy |
Education | El Segundo High School |
Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (BS, PhD) |
Known for | The Chemistry of Superheavy Elements [2] |
Awards | American Chemical Society Fellow 2018 |
Scientific career | |
Fields |
Isotope chemistry Nuclear chemistry |
Institutions |
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
Thesis | Electron-capture delayed fission properties of neutron-deficient einsteinium nuclei (2000) |
Doctoral advisor | Darleane C. Hoffman [1] |
Dawn Angela Shaughnessy is an American radiochemist and principal investigator of the heavy element group at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. [3] She was involved in the discovery of five superheavy elements with atomic numbers 114 to 118. [2]
Shaughnessy wanted to be a doctor as a child but became interested in science at middle school [4] and studied at El Segundo High School. [5] She earned her bachelor's in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. [6] She joined Darleane C. Hoffman's group for her doctoral studies, and completed her PhD [1] at the UC Berkeley College of Chemistry in 2000. [7] [8] Her thesis investigated the delayed fission of einsteinium. [1] [6] She won an award recognising her strength in graduate instruction. [6]
Shaughnessy joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2000, working under Heino Nitsche. [6] As part of a United States Department of Energy effort to clean up nuclear materials in the environment, Shaughnessy studied how plutonium interacts with manganese-bearing minerals. [6] She joined the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2002. [4]
In 2012 her group received a $5,000 grant which they donated to the Livermore High School department of chemistry. [7] She was appointed group leader of the experimental nuclear and radiochemistry group in 2013. [9] She has been involved in campaigns to celebrate Women's History Month. [10] In 2014 she was an editor of the book The Chemistry of Superheavy Elements. [2]
While leading the heavy element group, Shaughnessy partnered with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research; the team managed to identify five new superheavy elements. [11] [12] [13] [4] The elements were confirmed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in January 2016. [14] [15] As they were discovered at the Livermore lab, she named element 116 Livermorium. [16] Her recent work has included nuclear forensics – being able to identify the traces of fissile material, products, and activation products after an explosion. [17] [18] Her team are trying to automate sample preparation and detection, allowing them to speed up their isotope analysis. [18]
Shaughnessy has won numerous awards and honors including:
Dawn Shaughnessy | |
---|---|
![]() Shaughnessy in 2013 | |
Born | Dawn Angela Shaughnessy |
Education | El Segundo High School |
Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (BS, PhD) |
Known for | The Chemistry of Superheavy Elements [2] |
Awards | American Chemical Society Fellow 2018 |
Scientific career | |
Fields |
Isotope chemistry Nuclear chemistry |
Institutions |
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
Thesis | Electron-capture delayed fission properties of neutron-deficient einsteinium nuclei (2000) |
Doctoral advisor | Darleane C. Hoffman [1] |
Dawn Angela Shaughnessy is an American radiochemist and principal investigator of the heavy element group at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. [3] She was involved in the discovery of five superheavy elements with atomic numbers 114 to 118. [2]
Shaughnessy wanted to be a doctor as a child but became interested in science at middle school [4] and studied at El Segundo High School. [5] She earned her bachelor's in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. [6] She joined Darleane C. Hoffman's group for her doctoral studies, and completed her PhD [1] at the UC Berkeley College of Chemistry in 2000. [7] [8] Her thesis investigated the delayed fission of einsteinium. [1] [6] She won an award recognising her strength in graduate instruction. [6]
Shaughnessy joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2000, working under Heino Nitsche. [6] As part of a United States Department of Energy effort to clean up nuclear materials in the environment, Shaughnessy studied how plutonium interacts with manganese-bearing minerals. [6] She joined the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2002. [4]
In 2012 her group received a $5,000 grant which they donated to the Livermore High School department of chemistry. [7] She was appointed group leader of the experimental nuclear and radiochemistry group in 2013. [9] She has been involved in campaigns to celebrate Women's History Month. [10] In 2014 she was an editor of the book The Chemistry of Superheavy Elements. [2]
While leading the heavy element group, Shaughnessy partnered with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research; the team managed to identify five new superheavy elements. [11] [12] [13] [4] The elements were confirmed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in January 2016. [14] [15] As they were discovered at the Livermore lab, she named element 116 Livermorium. [16] Her recent work has included nuclear forensics – being able to identify the traces of fissile material, products, and activation products after an explosion. [17] [18] Her team are trying to automate sample preparation and detection, allowing them to speed up their isotope analysis. [18]
Shaughnessy has won numerous awards and honors including: