Bio
Samantha Schrell (previously Samantha Cary) received her B.S. in chemistry in 2012 from Ithaca College, and her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry in 2015 from Florida State University. Her thesis focused on studying the structure and bonding of late actinide systems under the direction of Prof. T. E. Albrecht-Schmitt. During this time, she developed proficiency in handling and manipulating large (5-100 mg scale) quantities highly radioactive samples, such as Np, Pu, Am, Cm, Bk, and Cf. in support of the coordination chemistry studies. In 2015, she was awarded the Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards for her work with californium. In 2016, she joined Los Alamos National Laboratory as an Agnew National Security postdoctoral fellow under the guidance of Dr. Stosh A. Kozimor. In January 2017, she received the Marie Curie distinguished postdoctoral fellowship, where her research efforts could be broadly described in terms of actinide intermetallics, coordination chemistry, solid-state synthesis, separations, and superconductivity. In July 2018, she converted to a staff scientist in the metal production group at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In the fall of 2019, she joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a research scientist where she continues to study and find improvements for californium production. Currently, she is the Cf-252 program manager.