633: Demonstrating Laser Focus Studying Materials Science with Solid-State NMR - Dr. Sophia Hayes

People Behind the Science Podcast - Stories from Scientists about Science, Life, Research, and Science Careers

Dr. Sophia Hayes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. In the lab, Sophia studies the chemistry, physics, and engineering of materials we encounter in daily life like plastics and semiconductors. As a materials scientist, she is using a technique called nuclear magnetic resonance to learn more about these materials.Sophia's time away from science is spent with her family and her two newly adopted dogs. She enjoys sailing and skiing with her husband and daughter. Sophia received her Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and worked for a few years afterward as an associate for a management consulting firm specializing in energy efficiency, environmental assessments, and energy generation. Sophia interned at the Sandia National Laboratories before entering graduate school. She received her PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She then completed a Directorate Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and UC Berkeley. She also served as an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Physics at the University of Dortmund in Germany before joining the faculty at Washington University. Sophia has received a number of awards and honors during her career, including, an NSF CAREER Award, a Washington University Graduate Student Senate Excellence in Mentoring Award, an Alfred Sloan Research Fellowship, and the Regitze R. Vold Memorial Prize from the Alpine Solid-State NMR Conference. Sophia is with us today to tell us about her journey through life and science.