News Archive
Raissa Chunko, Student Branch Vice President
Central Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Health Physics Society technical meeting featuring Keynote Speaker Elizabeth Brackett, CHP
Photo courtesy of Thomas Johnson
CSU students engaged in volunteer work at the Little Shop of Physics Spring Science Extravaganza inspiring the next generation of scientists with health physics demonstrations
Photo courtesy of of Joe Fehrman
April was an exciting month for the Colorado State University (CSU) Student Branch of the Health Physics Society (HPS)! A handful of students were selected to present topics at the Mountain and Plains Education Research Center's Annual Research Day on 6 April 2023. Among the presenters at Research Day, PhD student Paige Witter was selected as a platform speaker based on her abstract submission, winning over the judges. Additionally, now PhD candidate Michaella Swinhart earned the Health Physics Poster Presentation award among her peers.
On 21 April 2023, the HPS Central Rocky Mountain Chapter held its annual technical meeting at CSU. Students in the health physics program presented research topics such as radiation exposure concerns in space, actinide separation of spent nuclear fuel, radiocesium and radiostrontium analysis in fish near the Fukushima Daichi reactor, and dose comparison from medical treatment at the CSU veterinary clinic. Out of the 16 presentations, PhD candidate Samantha Labb earned first place in the PhD presentation category, PhD student Maelle Coupennec won in the outstanding presentation category, and MS student Joseph Fehrman earned first place in the MS presentation category.
The CSU Student Branch partnered with the Little Shop of Physics to support the Spring Science Extravaganza on 22 April 2023. Nearly 200 people from the community, ranging from kids to their grandparents, visited our booth to learn more about health physics. Multiple demonstrations (e.g., a cloud chamber) were presented by CSU students to help facilitate learning and inspire the next generation of scientists.
Lastly, a huge shout out to Michaella Swinhart for completing her qualifying exams and becoming a PhD candidate this month!