Physicist Danielle Speller has been named the winner of the American Institute of Physics’ 2024 Joseph A. Johnson Award for Excellence. Now in its fifth year, the award is presented in conjunction with the National Society of Black Physicists to recognize early-career scientists who demonstrate scientific ingenuity and impactful mentorship and service. It comes with a $5,000 prize and an invitation to give talks at partner universities.

Image credit: Courtesy of Danielle Speller

Assistant Professor at the Krieger School William H. Miller III Department of Physics and AstronomySpeller focuses on experimental nuclear and particle astrophysics. She probes the nature of matter and mass through low-energy cryogenic searches for physics beyond the standard model. Speller received an honorable mention for the award in 2023.

“I am very honored to have been chosen as this year’s recipient of the Joseph A. Johnson Award for Excellence. NSBP played an important role in my decision to pursue a career in research,” says Speller. “I am also honored by the award’s focus on research and mentorship. Over the years I have worked with many excellent colleagues, mentors, students and colleagues, including among the first awardees, who enthusiastically embodied servant leadership in encouraging, training, and supporting their mentees, professionally and personally, I am honored to be named among them.”

Speller’s lab is focused on searching for interactions with dark matter and a nuclear process called neutrinoless double beta decay, with the ultimate goal of finding new physics that will provide a better understanding of the nature of matter and mass and new insight into fundamental physics. and cosmology.

In this work, Speller works with two types of experimental projects in nuclear and particle physics. Yale’s Haloscope Sensitive to Axion Cold Dark Matter (HAYSTAC) is a cutting-edge experiment looking for axions. The laboratory is also involved in training and research and development for a next-generation axion experiment, the Axion Longitudinal Plasma Haloscope (ALPHA). Meanwhile, the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) in Assergi, Italy, is part of one of the main searches for neutrinoless double beta decay. In addition to ongoing work with CUORE, the lab is involved in preparations for the CUORE Upgrade with Particle IDentification (CUPID).

“I am delighted to learn of Danielle’s Joseph A. Johnson Award and cannot imagine a more deserving recipient,” says Robert Leheny, professor and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Since joining the faculty at JHU, Danielle has had a tremendously positive impact on our department and the broader community, both through the exciting research program in experimental particle physics she is building and through her engaged mentorship. In particular, our department is fortunate to be home to a vibrant NSBP chapter, and Danielle’s guidance has been instrumental in its success.”

The Johnson Award is named for Florida A&M University’s Joseph A. Johnson III, who was a pioneering and renowned experimental physicist, a mentor to black doctoral students, and a founder of the National Society of Black Physicists (founded at Morgan State University of Baltimore in 1977). The Johnson Award recognizes an NSBP experimental physicist who exemplifies his scientific ingenuity and passion for mentorship and service.