Jennifer Watkins is graduating in May after successfully defending her PhD dissertation entitled, “Towards improving the proprieties and furthering acceptance of advanced technology nuclear fuel.” Jennifer’s research focused on advanced (or accident-tolerant) nuclear fuels. As the world looks for ways to provide clean, reliable energy, the nuclear energy community is working to improve traditional nuclear fuels. Jennifer studied the hydrothermal corrosion behavior of UN and UO2. Understanding why and how these materials degrade will allow us to improve the fuel performance and safety in the future. You can Jennifer’s dissertation abstract here. Jennifer joined the AML during her undergraduate education, and stayed in the group to complete a Ph.D. She received an Idaho National Laboratory Graduate Fellowship, which allowed her to complete the last half of her graduate research at INL with a generous stipend. The connections made and materials researched during her time at INL led directly to post-graduation research position.
Jennifer’s Path to PhD: Prior to going back to school in 2010 to pursue her undergraduate degree, Jennifer spent 16 years in a finance occupation for a local municipality. While successful in that arena, she knew she wanted to make a bigger impact on the world. After meeting with MSE faculty, she was encouraged to pursue a materials science and engineering degree. She spent her first two years in undergrad doing school part-time and working full-time at her finance job. She finally convinced herself that to really be successful in her new undertaking, she needed to be all in. She left her full-time job and was offered a part-time undergraduate research position in the Advanced Materials Laboratory in 2014. There she was exposed to numerous opportunities for various research projects, including, but not limited to, nuclear fuels research. The experience and hands-on research that she performed first as an undergraduate, then as a graduate student, led to multiple graduate fellowships and ultimately her current position as a Nuclear Fuels Researcher at Idaho National Laboratory.
Jennifer’s Advice for current & potential students: “My advice to future, or current, graduate students looking at pursuing a Ph.D. is to be passionate about your work and remember what your end goal is, because you will encounter obstacles along the way. You will be tired, you will fail (multiple times), you will wonder why you’re doing it, and you will want to quit. Do have some fun along the way, prioritize your self-care and mental well-being, and your physical health. Your hard work and sacrifices will pay off, and your failures will be what you build upon to reach your goal of being a Ph.D. and it WILL be worth it at the end.”
Congratulations Jennifer!