The bulk of our research centers on radioactivity and trying to find ways to better detect and understand it. Measurements and simulations are performed for delayed neutrons, photons, beta particles, internal conversion electrons, and gamma rays.
Jose (Raul) Ocampo's interests include neutron detection using gas and alternatively, reverse beta decay Cerenkov photons. His hobbies for the past few years have been electronics repair, bad statistics and foraging for free food on campus. He first heard about the reactor facility many years ago from an college instructor who had taken a sabbatical there. But he was interested in Hartree-Fock simulation and quantum mechanics at the time and applied to UC Irvine to do that. Some time later when the programmable NMR instrument he was using stopped talking to the outside world he found himself at the reactor where he has been ever since.
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Liz graduated from UC Berkeley in 2009 with a BA in Physics. As an undergraduate at Berkeley, Liz’s research included analysis of spectroscopic data for studies of the interstellar medium in the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant (UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory) and assisting in the preliminary retrofitting of a research tandem accelerator for use in special nuclear materials nonproliferation experiments (UC Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering). After graduating, Liz continued this work as a post-baccalaureate researcher at the LBNL Accelerator and Fusion research division, in addition to calculating and modeling beamline optics. At UCI, Liz’s graduate research has included detector simulation and analysis for future next-generation experiments at Fermilab to detect Charged Lepton Flavor Violation in muon to electron conversion. Liz joined the Shaka Group in Fall 2014. Her current research includes commissioning/calibration of a new beta detector array at ANL, developing detector simulations, and analyzing the beta spectra of short-lived fission products to probe the reactor antineutrino anomaly. In her mostly non-existent free time Liz enjoys hiking, reading, homebrewing, and hacking things to make them better. She also attends too many conventions, reads too many comics, plays too many video games, and avoids writing about herself in 3rd person.
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Amber obtained her B.S. in chemistry from UC Irvine in June of 2012. She took a year off to explore the various dog parks and coffee shops of Orange County before continuing her education in the wonderful world of nuclear chemistry. As a graduate student, the closest Amber comes to nuclear chemistry is boiling water for her morning coffee using nonradioactive methods (safety purpose reasons). The bulk of her research is nuclear physics, which is much more fun to say anyway. She dabbles in creating radioactive sources from natural objects to test her custom build beta detector along with simulating the detector response for the purpose of predicting the future. So far, she is able to predict tomorrow’s weather, but with no more accuracy than the weather men, which is still quite impressive. Amber worked hard to become a licensed nuclear Reactor Operator at UCI’s nuclear reactor, and if that wasn’t enough, she upgraded her license to Senior Reactor Operator to which she celebrated by eating a breakfast celeburrito from BC Cavern. Victory and supreme power never tasted so good. Out of the office, Amber enjoys eating dole whips from Disneyland, bestowing justice on raiders in the popular videogame series Fallout, and pondering the question of just how many gnomes is too much to own before it gets weird.
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