Katie Ream works with associate professor David Moore on the BeEST (Beryllium Electron capture in Superconducting Tunnel junctions) experiment, which implants Be7 into superconducting tunnel junctions and measures the recoil energy spectrum of the Be7 via electron capture into Li7 and a neutrino. BeEST searches for BSM physics and primarily searches for the sterile neutrino. Katie is currently working on developing an energy correction to data from BeEST, specifically data from the electron capture events and laser events in the BeEST detector, to correct for non-physical effects. This correction will significantly improve data resolution for future analyses. Later on in her PhD, Katie hopes to lead future analysis efforts in phase 4 of BeEST by implanting other isotopes into the BeEST and carefully studying their recoil energy spectrums. In her free time, Katie sings in the Yale Camerata choral ensemble and volunteers in outreach efforts through the department.
Moore said, “Congratulations to Katie on receiving the NSF GRFP this year! Katie is working on a relatively new effort in our group to search for sterile neutrino experiments as part of the BeEST collaboration, and we are excited that receiving the GRFP will allow her to help lead this work in the coming years.”
Josie Rose works with Horace D. Taft Professor of Physics Helen Caines in the Wright Lab Relativistic Heavy Ion Group (RHIG) on jet substructure measurements with ALICE at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). She plans to use energy energy correlators to study jet modification in the quark-gluon plasma. Josie graduated from Ohio State, where she studied physics and astrophysics and worked on stellar intensity interferometry. In her free time, she enjoys being active outdoors.
Caines said, “Congratulations to Josie, Katie, Bradyn, Forrest, and Nat. I was particularly happy to hear that Josie was granted a Fellowship. She has made an excellent start to her studies in our relativistic heavy-ion research group, and this award ensures she can continue her collaboration on ALICE, travel to CERN, and contribute to our understanding of the properties and evolution of the Quark Gluon Plasma. “