About Me

I'm a theoretical physicist working at Los Alamos National Lab. My research interests are in nuclear structure and reaction mechanisms with applications to nuclear astrophysics. I received my PhD at North Carolina State University under the direction of Gail McLaughlin. At the University of Notre Dame I worked under the direction of Ani Aprahamian and Rebecca Surman. The study of nuclear models has a wide range of applicability from nuclear medicine, to stockpile stewardship and even the cosmos.

At Los Alamos we seek to solve national security challenges through scientific excellence. This means we not only apply our models to the task at hand, but we seek to push them to the limits by probing the edges of our knowledge with basic science research. One way I contribute to basic science research at the lab is to study the applicability of LANL nuclear models to nucleosynthesis. Nucleosynthesis is the study of the processes by which chemical elements are synthesized in cosmic environments. In other words, this part of my research focuses on how the elements on the periodic table were created. This field is extremely challenging and also very rewarding with many real world applications. Check out the research section of this website for more information.

I firmly believe that practicing in scientific inquiry is both empowering and a necessary requirement for success in today's world. You can learn more about my teaching efforts in the teach section of this website.

Outside of physics I enjoy keeping up with latest technology trends and coming up with unique solutions to challenging problems. In the past I have worked on several entrepreneurial endeavours including work done with the Solace Development Group. In my free time I try to stay in shape by playing racquetball. If you are in northern New Mexico and are interested in a game, shoot me an e-mail.