Hannah Patenaude
Step inside Hannah Patenaude’s lab at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and you’ll know immediately that she loves anything pink. “My advisor even found me a pink heat gun for fixing reference electrodes!” shared the radiochemistry graduate research assistant. “Hello Kitty is another obsession, so of course, you can find her hiding throughout my home and work spaces as well.”
Hannah fell for radiochemistry after her first year of college when she realized medical school wasn’t her passion. On a leap of faith, she changed her major to chemistry. That summer took her to the National Atomic Testing Museum, just off of UNLV’s campus.
“I walked out of that building unsure of what I had just seen, but knew what I wanted to do,” she said. “Next thing I knew, I was working as an undergraduate researcher for the Radiochemistry Program, where I squeezed in four years of research experience before graduating. Ever since, I’ve continued falling in love with radiochemistry and the potential of nuclear power to save the world.”
This semester marks the end of Hannah’s second year of Ph.D. work in UNLV’s Radiochemistry Program. Soon the Charleston, S.C., native will be taking her qualifying exam in hopes of moving onto status as a Ph.D. candidate.
“Many nuclear experts are hesitant to have discussions outside of the technical sphere, but we can’t move forward as a society without public discussion.” — Hannah Patenaude
Tell us about radiochemistry. What is it and why do you dig it?
Radiochemistry, or as I like to call it, spicy chemistry, is any kind of chemical method but with radioactive materials. Radchem has applications that range from nuclear energy — my personal area of interest — to nuclear medicine and the forensics and nonproliferation efforts concerning nuclear weapons. We take the popular techniques taught in school and apply it to radioisotopes either down in the bottom row of the periodic table, or any other element in an “unstable” or radioactive form.
Where are you in your academic journey? What are your goals?
My dissertation project is conducted under my amazing advisor, Dr. Cory Rusinek, and uses electroanalytical chemistry to study uranium and plutonium molten salt fuel systems to support the deployment of advanced or Generation IV reactors, specifically Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs). The MSR is easily my favorite reactor design since it can consume used fuel, increase proliferation resistance by using up weapons-grade material that gets produced in the reactor, and eliminate the possibility of meltdowns since it’s already melted! However, we still need to deal with issues related to corrosion for long-term use of these reactors, and that’s where my project comes into play.
The work I do in the world of rhetoric with Dr. Emma Frances Bloomfield in the Public Communication Initiative (PCI) at UNLV includes the development of a Nuclear Communication Certificate. This aims to empower nuclear experts with an understanding of just how important social sciences are to the nuclear industry and help them feel confident and comfortable discussing what they do. Many nuclear experts are hesitant to have discussions outside of the technical sphere, but we can’t move forward as a society without public discussion.
In a similar vein, I recently published a research article with Dr. Bloomfield in the PCI that provides a voice for nuclear experts in the world of nuclear communication studies. I hope to expand this work in a large-scale survey that can expand that platform and share the diverse perspectives and intentions of those within the nuclear industry.
Most, if not all of us, want to make the world a better place, not recreate the Manhattan Project.
What are nuclear energy’s biggest barriers?
The nuclear industry has a history of secrecy and exclusion of community voice. For that reason, I also study the rhetoric of nuclear power in the United States in hopes of serving as a bridge between not only the nuclear industry and the public but also the worlds of natural and social sciences. Economics, policy, and public opinion are some of the many problems facing the integration of nuclear technologies around the globe, and no amount of time in the lab can change that. So, I make sure to spend almost as much time outside of the lab to try and serve as a positive influence on the industry and encourage more nuclear experts to reach out to the public and embrace their roles as scientist citizens.
How do you see radiochemistry playing a role in the future of our infrastructure?
The nuclear industry is skewed heavily toward engineers, which is vastly different from the expertise and experience of chemists. While the nuclear industry is a relatively small field, radiochemistry is even smaller (Marie Curie would probably be a little disappointed). Issues like corrosion in an MSR are often approached from an engineer’s perspective, which might not even consider the possibility of electrochemistry solving those problems.
In fact, former director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory claimed that the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment in the late 1960s lost its support because it was “too much” of a chemist’s design and engineers got the funding to go in a different direction. Nonetheless, radiochemists play an integral role in advancing the use of safe and reliable nuclear energy. Considering my dissertation project is supported by a U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Energy University Program grant and I am a fellow of this same program, I believe that we are already headed in that direction.
What do you love outside of the lab?
I spend as much time as possible with my dogs and take any chance I can get to go back to the East Coast and spend time with them (and my parents, of course). When I’m not thinking about melting salts or the existential threat of climate change, I’m usually embroidering my lab coat and binge-watching Schitt’s Creek (ew, David!). My boyfriend, Chris, has helped me learn to love the outdoors since it isn’t 99% humidity here in the desert like back in the South. We go hiking, camping, and anything else to get out of town for a weekend.
What does it mean to have MOXY?
Moxy is the confidence to be fully and truly yourself. Be bold. Be daring. Wear pink to a conference. Put Hello Kitty stickers on your lab notebook. Do what makes you happy while working hard in the process. I often find myself questioning my abilities and wondering if I should really be here, worthy of doing this awesome work. Then I remember that many people believed in me and trust in my abilities, and I continue to prove them right in all that I do.
Having moxy is a state of mind where you put your whole heart and soul into everything, from work and school to personal relationships and self-care. I’m still working on the last one, but people like Dr. Bloomfield, Dr. Rusinek, Josie, and Chris all help keep me going. Sometimes moxy is realizing when you need to lean on those people or even take a step back for a minute in order to continue operating at a high level.