Our Group

Fatima Garcia

Postdoctoral Fellow

Fatima obtained her PhD in 2021 from Simon Fraser University, conducting experiments at TRIUMF, where she studied neutron-rich species through beta and gamma decay spectroscopy using the GRIFFIN spectrometer. As part of the heavy elements group, she investigates the fundamental chemistry of the heaviest elements on the periodic table. 

Principle Investigator

Jacklyn Gates is the Heavy Element Group Leader at Berkeley Lab. She has over 15 years of experience in experimental nuclear physics with a specialization in the production, chemistry and nuclear structure of superheavy elements.

John Gooding

Graduate Student

John is a second year PhD student in Nuclear Engineering. He graduated from Berkeley with a bachelors in physics. He is interested in super heavy elements, nuclear structure and spectroscopy.

Erich Leistenschneider

Scientific Staff

Erich studies fundamental, ground-state properties of atoms and their nuclei under extreme conditions of nuclear matter. His particular focus is on bridging AMO techniques to the challenges of rare and radioactive isotope sciences, especially those related to ion trapping and precision measurements. Currently, he leads the efforts to establish a new high precision mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy program for heavy and superheavy isotopes at the BGS. Additionally, he frequently takes part in scientific investigations in other laboratories around the world, such as TRIUMF (Canada), FRIB (USA), LAFN-USP (Brazil) and CERN (Switzerland).

Mallory McCarthy

Graduate Student

Mallory is a third year PhD student in Nuclear Engineering. She came into UC with a bachelors in Chemistry and Mathematics. She studies nuclear physics and chemistry through SHE experiments.

Rodney Orford

Scientific Staff

Rodney received his PhD from McGill University in 2018 for conducting precision mass measurements of neutron-rich nuclei relevant to the astrophysical r process using the Canadian Penning Trap mass spectrometer at Argonne National Lab. He is now a part of the heavy elements group working towards the implementation of an MR-TOF device for studying the nuclear physics properties of rare heavy elements through mass and laser-spectroscopy measurements.

Jennifer Pore

Scientist Staff

Jennifer Pore's research interests are at the intersections of chemistry and nuclear physics. Presently she has been focused on new isotope discoveries, spectroscopy measurements, and chemical measurements utilizing nuclear reactions.

Senior Staff Scientist

Mark has been at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for 35 years and has a broad range of research interests including heavy element chemistry and physics, laser fusion research, nuclear structure research, nuclear reaction research, radioactive beam generation and utilization, fission studies, and radiochemical diagnostic development.

Mailing Address

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Nuclear Science Division

1 Cyclotron Rd MS 00R0192

Berkeley, CA 94720-8101