Kelly A Chipps

Bio

Dr. Kelly A. Chipps is a DOE Early Career Award winner and former Liane B. Russell Fellow working in the Experimental Nuclear Structure and Astrophysics group in the Physics Division.

She is the lead of the Jet Experiments in Nuclear Structure and Astrophysics (JENSA) project. JENSA is the highest-density gas jet target for radioactive ion beam studies in the world, achieving densities on par with solid targets (up to ~1x10¹⁹ atoms/cm²). JENSA allows high-precision spectroscopic measurements of (alpha,p) reactions critical to nova and x-ray burst nucleosynthesis, providing data to test both nuclear theoretical models and astrophysical simulations. Unlike other gas jet targets, JENSA can incorporate large arrays of high-resolution, high-solid-angle charged particle detectors.

The first rare isotope beam measurement with a gas jet was performed with JENSA, and has been featured as a DOE highlight. Prior to being installed on a dedicated beamline at ReA3@FRIB, JENSA made measurements using high quality stable beams from the ORNL HRIBF tandem, including this result on a critical sub-barrier resonance in the ¹⁸F(p,alpha)¹⁵O reaction.

Chipps is a core member of the SEparator for CApture Reactions (SECAR) Collaboration and Chair-Elect (2023) of the SECAR Collaboration Council. SECAR provides a unique coupling of a recoil separator for direct measurement of the thermonuclear reactions that power stars and stellar explosions to a facility producing radioactive ion beams via fragmentation. This combination allows access to different astrophysical isotopes than other existing recoil separator facilities. JENSA, both in jet mode and in an extended target mode, provides the hydrogen or helium gas that serves as the target for measurements of capture reactions with SECAR.

Dr. Chipps was the 2022 Chair of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) Users Organization, and Past Chair (2020-2022) of the Argonne Tandem-Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS) Users Organization. She currently serves on the EBSS Board of Directors, the ATLAS PAC, and the Low Energy Community Meeting organizing committee.

In 2022-2023, Dr. Chipps served on the Long Range Plan writing committee. She is a member of NSAC (2023-2026).

Awards

Liane B. Russell Distinguished Fellowship, 2015

DOE Early Career Award, 2017

Education

PhD (Applied Physics) 2008, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO