My research is related to the production and study of new isotopes, and the understanding of the origin of the elements in the Universe. Atomic nuclei are primarily composed of neutrons and protons, with the protons and neutrons themselves composed of more fundamental particles, quarks. What element an atom corresponds to depends on the number of protons in the nucleus. All elements come in different forms called isotopes; the number of neutrons in the nucleus determines which isotope. Normally there is one or perhaps a few isotopes of each element found in nature.

At the NSCL we use the research facilities to manipulate atomic nuclei in order to create new isotopes. There are estimated to be thousands of possible isotopes that have never been synthesized, many of great interest to science and potential applications. These isotopes are unstable and decay into a more stable form in a very short period of time, as quickly as 0.001 seconds. A key development at the NSCL has been the technical developments to allow the isolation of newly created isotopes and the techniques for their study. Techniques (developed at the NSCL) such as nucleon knock-out and Coulomb dissociation allow us to study the properties of single nuclei with a sensitivity of nearly 1 million times that of conventional techniques.

The NSCL is one of the leading research laboratories in the production and study of new isotopes. The next major advance in this field will be the Rare Isotope Accelerator RIA. One of my major efforts has been the development of this concept and service as a leader in the scientific community trying to make this facility a reality.