Spencer A. Reisbick, Brookhaven National Laboratory

Spencer A. Reisbick received his B.A. from Ripon College where he majored in chemistry and physics. Then, he obtained his Ph.D. under the guidance of David Flannigan at the University of Minnesota where he focused on laser-driven ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM). After graduation, he did his postdoc under the guidance of Yimei Zhu where he helped to develop laser-free UEM at Brookhaven National Lab. Recently, he has become a staff scientist and remains dedicated to enhancing and developing the performance, applications, and capabilities for new UEM advancements.

 Dr. Steffi Woo, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Dr. Steffi Woo is a R&D Associate in the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN. She has a B.Eng. in Materials Engineering and Society with a minor in Chemistry from McMaster University (Canada). She obtained her M.A.Sc. in Materials Engineering for her thesis work on the characterization of extended defects in group III-V semiconductor thin films by conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) also at McMaster University in the group of Prof. Gianluigi Botton. Her Ph.D. work focused on the structural and chemical variations in group III-nitride nanowire heterostructures at the nano- and atomic-scale, also supervised by Prof. Botton. She was previously a post-doctoral researcher in the STEM group at the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides in Orsay (France) with a focus on the optical response of 2D materials, including hexagonal boron nitride and transition metal dichalcogenides using electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and cathodoluminescence.

Alexis Williams, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Alexis Williams received her BS degree in Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology from the University of Tennessee. She spent two years in a post-baccalaureate research program at Oak Ridge National Lab learning protein crystallography and neutron scattering. She received a PhD in Biophysics and Structural Biology from the University of Texas Medical Branch where she was a McLaughlin Infectious Disease and Biodefense Graduate Research Fellow. During her PhD, she was interested in understanding how viruses utilize host factors to evade immune system detection in efforts to further vaccine design. She went on to be an NIH Endocrinology and Gastroenterology Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She was interested in understanding the effects of lipid sensing on the function of nuclear receptors and how molecular glues drive protein polymerization. Alexis is currently an Associate Research Scientist at Oak Ridge National Lab in the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences. Her research interests are in designing abiotic interfaces to detect and combat pathogens, understanding how carrier physiochemical properties alter the delivery of cancer therapeutics, and engineering enzymes to aid in the degradation of plastic wastes. She also works with users interested in utilizing cryoEM to study proteins, cells, and soft matter through CNMS and SNS user programs and manages ORNL’s cryoEM sample preparation labs, the G4 Krios Cryo S/TEM, and workstations for data processing.

Martina Heller, Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH

Martina Heller is an Applications Development Engineer for Nanoscience and Nanomaterials at Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, Germany. She received her Masters degree at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) in Material Science. After receiving her degree, she joined the institute of general material properties at FAU and worked as a research associate. The research focus of the PhD project was Hydrogen embrittlement in iron investigated by Atom Probe Tomography (APT). To facilitate this research a deep understanding of cryo-FIB/SEM preparation techniques and APT were needed. To keep the samples between a charging device, a FIB/SEM and APT system in an ambient environment and at cryogenic temperature, she worked on developing a cryo-transfer system for the investigation of Aluminum alloys and Hydrogen embrittlement in iron. A side focus of her work was to prepare atom probe samples with a Laser ablation device. The investigated materials ranged in collaboration projects from coatings to fuel cells.