Burson, Hernandez Selected for DOE Visiting Faculty Program

Two members of the Grinnell science faculty have been selected to participate in the Department of Energy’s Visiting Faculty Program.

Kristen Burson, Associate Professor of Physics, and Heriberto Hernandez, Professor of Chemistry, will spend the summer collaborating with scientists at DOE-funded national labs.

Through the Visiting Faculty Program (VFP), researchers at smaller institutions gain access to the first-class resources and scientists at national laboratories. The program is open exclusively to faculty and students at higher education institutions that are not categorized as “Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity” or “Doctoral Universities: High Research Activity,” (often referred to as R1 and R2 institutions). The VFP program provides generous stipends for its faculty and student participants, as well as support for travel and housing during their stay at the national lab.

Burson, an experimental condensed matter physicist, will collaborate with Dr. Anibal Boscoboinik at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to analyze the physical capture of noble gases (like radon, argon, and xenon) using silicate “nanocages.” In the lab, these porous containers, made of silicon and oxygen and measuring only billionths of a meter, can capture the noble gasses produced during nuclear fission. If it can be scaled up, this research may be used in nuclear energy production, to detect and remove nuclear waste, to produce molecules for medical radiation, and to safeguard nuclear non-proliferation. Dr. Burson will be joined at BNL this summer by two Grinnell students, Eric Genet '26 and Shabab Kabir '26.

With support from the VFP, Hernandez will continue his long-term collaboration with Dr. Grant Johnson at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to study the synthesis and characterization of gold and silver nanoclusters. These nanoclusters may be as miniscule as just a few atoms, but they are powerful tools. Gold and silver nanoclusters serve as catalysts for chemical reactions, drive fuel cells converting light to energy, and are some of the most widely used metals in the biomedical sciences and biotherapeutics. Isabel Voinescu '26 will join Hernandez at PNNL.

“The Visiting Faculty Program is an incredible opportunity for scientists at institutions like Grinnell — those that must balance their innovative research with excellent undergraduate teaching,” says Susan Ferrari, Assistant Dean of the College and Director in the Office of Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations. “We are excited to see how these collaborations will advance the work of Kristen and Heriberto.”

The College congratulations Burson and Hernandez, as well as their students, on their impressive applications and receipt of these awards!