Department of Physics
Education
M.S., Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Ph.D., Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Research Expertise
My research interests are Neutrino Physics & Dark Matter as intersection of Nuclear, Astro & Particle Physics. I focus on radiological backgrounds, calibration systems, development of detectors, nuclear forensics, simulation, computing/HPC, statistical analyses, machine learning, automation design and cosmic rays.
As undergrad in Germany my interest got sparked by giving a presentation on solar neutrinos that were discovered here in a gold mine in the Black Hills. I then joined the neutrino group at the Institute of Experimental Nuclear Physics at KIT, where I did my Diploma- and Ph.D. theses on the KARMEN short-baseline neutrino experiment which was located at the Rutherford-Appleton-Laboratory in Oxford/UK. As postdoc I worked on the MINOS long-baseline neutrino experiment (Fermilab/Chicago & MN) and on the Double Chooz reactor neutrino experiment in France, before focusing as South Dakota Mines faculty on the DUNE neutrino experiment & on the LZ dark matter experiment, both located at nearby Sanford Lab, the former gold mine.
Brief Bio
Education and Professional Preparation
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT): Diploma-Physicist (>M.Sc.) 1998
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT): Ph.D. 2004
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne/IL (University of Chicago): Postdoctoral Appointee at High Energy Physics Division (2005-2008)
- The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa: Postdoctoral Appointee at Dept. of Physics & Astronomy (2009-2011)
Appointments
- South Dakota School of Mines & Technology: Associate-Professor (tenured 2020 - present)
- South Dakota School of Mines & Technology: Assistant-Professor (tenure-track 2014-2020)
- The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa: Research Scientist (2011-2014)