Michelle Anna Espy is an American physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory who studies ultra-low-field nuclear magnetic resonance magnetic resonance imaging using SQUIDs, with applications including magnetoencephalography (the recording of magnetic fields generated by brain activity) and the detection of explosive materials and nerve agents in airline security screening.[1][2] At Los Alamos, she has also worked on neutron imaging of stockpiled weapons[3] and of the skull of the Bisti Beast, a fossil tyrannosaur.[4]
Education and career edit
Espy is originally from Southern California,[5] and studied physics as an undergraduate at the University of California, Riverside.[6] She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, and came to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1996 as a postdoctoral researcher.[1]
Book edit
Espy is a coauthor of the book Ultra-Low Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: A New MRI Regime (with Robert Kraus Jr., Per Magnelind, and Petr Volegov, Oxford University Press, 2014).
Recognition edit
Espy was named as a Fellow of the American Physical Society, in the 2014 class of fellows, "for the application of nuclear physics techniques to biomedical research and national security challenges, including pioneering work in the application of ultra-low field nuclear magnetic resonance to functional brain imaging and non-invasive identification of materials for national security."[7]
A portable magnetic resonance imaging machine, developed by Espy and her team for use in developing countries and battleground medical situations, was named one of the top ten physics breakthroughs of 2015 by Physics World.[8]
References edit
- ^ a b "Michelle Espy: Detecting dangers to support health and security", DOE Pulse, US Department of Energy, 17 February 2014, retrieved 2022-05-03
- ^ "First portable liquid nerve agent detector developed at Los Alamos", Science Highlights, Los Alamos National Laboratory, February 2020, retrieved 2022-05-03
- ^ "Neutron Imaging of Weapon Components", Science Highlights, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 31 May 2017, retrieved 2022-05-03
- ^ "Unique Imaging of a Dinosaur's Skull Tells Evolutionary Tale", New Mexico Culture, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, 15 August 2017, retrieved 2022-05-03
- ^ "Michelle Espy: Building a Research Program Within a National Laboratory Setting: A Completely One-sided View" (PDF), Science of Signatures Advanced Studies Scholars Program 2014, Los Alamos National Laboratory, retrieved 2022-05-03
- ^ "Michelle Espy", Homeland Defense & Security Information Analysis Center, US Department of Defense, retrieved 2022-05-03
- ^ "Awards and recognition: Batista, Boshier, Dattelbaum, Doorn, Espy, Rodriguez, Saxena, Tretiak, Yin named APS Fellows", Science Highlights, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 21 January 2015, retrieved 2022-05-03
- ^ Commissariat, Tushna; Johnston, Hamish (11 December 2015), "Double quantum-teleportation milestone is Physics World 2015 Breakthrough of the Year", Physics World, retrieved 2022-05-03
External links edit
- Michelle Espy publications indexed by Google Scholar