What do you do here at Wright Lab?
I split my time between working on neutrino experiments and helping manage the computing resources used by WLab researchers.
For the past 6 years, my main project has been PROSPECT, where we are studying neutrinos produced at a research nuclear reactor in Tennessee. The Yale group has led key aspects of the experiment, from conceptual design through analysis, including detector construction which occurred at Wright Lab. Most recently I have been working with graduate students Ben Foust and Jeremy Gaison on our new measurement of the 235U antineutrino energy spectrum.
I am also working on preparing WLab for large-scale construction for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) that will be starting in the coming years.
As a member of the Yale Center for Research Computing, I work to enable students and researchers to better utilize the computational resources for their work. We manage four high-performance computing clusters where Wright Lab researchers (among others) do extensive analysis and simulation.
What is the most unique and/or exciting experience you’ve had here at Wright Lab?
The construction of the PROSPECT detector was an incredible experience that was directly enabled by the facilities and staff at Wright Lab. Over the course of a full year, a small team of PROSPECTors descended on the lab and spent countless hours in the large cleanrooms on the first floor. We finished detector assembly just before the holiday break in 2017 and installed the detector at Oak Ridge National Lab in early 2018. I will never forget seeing the first plots mere hours after commencing data-collection that clearly showed neutrinos.
What is something that people might not know about you that you’d like to share with the community?
I love to bake (and eat) bread! Work-from-home has been a real boon to my ability to bake sourdough!
Where do you like to work remotely?
I’m currently spending a lot of time working from my home office, but I am looking forward to spring weather when I can set up on my front porch!
