Jessie Butler likes to analyze technologies and figure out how to make complex systems work together. As the work coordinator for Jefferson Lab’s Experimental Hall A, Butler leads a team of four electro-mechanical technicians who are responsible for maintenance and upkeep of experimental equipment and electronics in the hall, ensuring that they will work properly and deliver on the scientific mission of the lab.
Juggling Physics research and Hollywood consulting was bound to have its terrifying moments. James Maxwell, on-call physics advisor for the 2016 “Ghostbusters” film, was buried in research on high field polarization of Helium-3 when his cell phone rang. He stepped outside of a lab at Brookhaven National Laboratory to answer a call from Ghostbuster’s actress Melissa McCarthy. But “the call dropped!” Maxwell recalls, wide-eyed, as if reliving the shock and horror of a moment which later earned him a joking punch in the arm from McCarthy.
Scientific discoveries require more than just science; they require tools, equipment and resources to enable scientists to conduct their research. That’s where Renee Carter comes in. As a procurement administrator, Carter is focused on securing the tools, materials and devices that Jefferson Lab researchers need to fulfill every aspect of their work.
Researcher Relies on Jefferson Lab’s Powerful ‘Microscope’ to Study Weak Forces
Krishna Kumar has made it his life’s work to study the space within atoms. He pursues answers to life’s basic questions: Where did we come from? How are we put together? What happened right after the Big Bang?
