Three researchers in Berkeley Lab’s Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics (ATAP) Division have been elected to Executive Committee positions in the American Physical Society (APS). Cameron Geddes and Soren Prestemon will serve Chair-Line positions (serving their first year as Vice-Chair, the second year as Chair-Elect, the third year as Chair of the committee, and then Past Chair in their fourth and final year of office) in their respective APS Divisions, and Marlene Turner is serving a two-year-term as Early Career Member-at-Large.
ATAP senior scientist and Division Director Cameron Geddes has been elected to a Chair-line role in the APS Division of Plasma Physics (DPP). Geddes, an award-winning scientist known internationally for his work on laser-plasma accelerators, leads a wide range of plasma and related activities and collaborations at Berkeley Lab, from accelerator physics and high energy density science to low-temperature plasmas and quantum information science. According to Geddes, “This an exciting time for plasma physics, with renewed interest in fusion … a new understanding of fundamental processes and how they shape the cosmos, and the emergence of new accelerators and low-temperature plasma methods with strong social applications.” Geddes added that he “will strive to adapt the DPP’s programs to expand access, especially for early career researchers and others facing challenges participating,” while acknowledging the vital role that the APS plays “in growing our field into a more diverse population, which is crucial both to equity and to scientific progress.”
ATAP Deputy Division Director for Technology Soren Prestemon, a senior scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Engineering Division, has been elected to a Chair-Line role in the APS Division of Physics of Beams (DPB). Prestemon also directs the Berkeley Center for Magnet Technology (BCMT) and the U.S. Magnet Development Program, a partnership with Fermilab, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (Florida State University) chartered by the DOE Office of High Energy Physics (HEP). According to Prestemon, “Advancing this field can open new windows into the fundamental nature of the universe and can support society in innumerable ways, from medical therapy to energy and environment solutions.”
ATAP research scientist Marlene Turner has been elected to the position of Early Career Member-at-Large, also in the APS Division of Physics of Beams (DPB). Turner, who works on high-energy electron acceleration in laser-driven plasma wakefields and the next generation of particle colliders, received an award through DOE’s prestigious Early Career Research Program (ECRP) earlier this year for her project, “Energy Recycling for a Green Plasma Based Collider,” for research toward significantly decreasing future colliders’ energy consumption and operating costs. “I am honored to be part of the APS DPB,” Turner says, adding “I understand how important passionate engagement of early-career scientists is for the future of our field, and I would work to ensure that we are diversely represented, given the right opportunities to grow, and included in important processes.”