Awards for JINA-CEE Members

Erika Holmbeck receives the 2022 APS Dissertation Award in Nuclear Physics 

NASA Hubble Fellow Erika Holmbeck is being recognized for her doctoral thesis re- search of outstanding quality and achievement in nuclear physics. Holmbeck gave an invited talk at the 2021 APS Division of Nuclear Physics Meeting in October, where she received the award. Her dissertation was chosen "For elucidating the nature of the rapid neutron-capture process, including actinide production in the early Universe, with an innovative combination of nuclear network calculations and spectroscopic observations of metal-poor stars in the Milky Way."

Holmbeck became a JINA-CEE member while working on her PhD at the University of Notre Dame. After graduating in 2020 she joined the Rochester Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral researcher. In 2021 she was selected a NASA Hubble Fellow, and joined the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Pasadena, CA.

Artemis Spyrou Selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society

Professor of physics at FRIB and at Michigan State University's Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Artemis Spyrou was selected Fellow of the American Physical Society, a distinction recognizing researchers for significant and innovative contributions to physics. APS Fellowship is restricted to just 0.5% of the APS membership in a given year. Spyrou was nominated by the Division of Nuclear Physics, and is being recognized "For studies using total absorption spectroscopy and the beta-Oslo technique to determine neutron-capture rates for astrophysical modeling, and for dedication to communicating science to the general public." In the materials nominating Spyrou, her colleagues described her as an “unstoppable force” in nuclear physics research and outreach.

Spyrou received her PhD from the National Technical University of Athens, and has been a JINA member since joining the NSCL as a postdoctoral researcher in 2007.

Madappa Prakash is Awarded the 2022 APS Bethe Prize

Professor Madappa Prakash, faculty member at Ohio University and long-time member of JINA, was awarded the 2022 American Physical Society Hans A. Bethe Prize. Each year the prize is awarded to recognize outstanding work in theory, experiment, or observation in nuclear astrophysics. Prakash’s citation reads “for fundamental contributions to the physics of hot and dense matter, and their implications for heavy ion collisions and multi-messenger observations of neutron star structure and evolution”. Prakash’s research program operates at the interface between nuclear physics and astrophysics, including pivotal works on the neutron star equation of state and neutron star cooling. His recent work has directly informed interpretations of multi-messenger data from neutron stars, including observations from the NICER X-ray telescope and the LIGO and VIRGO gravitational wave observatories. Prakash has been a dedicated research mentor over his career, advising 14 PhD students and over 30 undergrads.