CV

EDUCATION

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Nuclear reactions important for astrophysical processes: Slow (s-process nucleosynthesis) and fast neutron capture (r-process) reactions. I am highly specialized in the study of radiative capture (e.g., (α,γ) and (p,γ)) and (α,n) reactions, which act as important neutron sources for the s-process nucleosynthesis.
• Machine Learning Applications in Nuclear Data Analysis: Utilizing machine learning algorithms for nuclear data analysis (e.g., neutron spectrum unfolding using convolutional neural networks) and understanding nuclear structure.
• Low Energy Nuclear Spectroscopy: Conducting precise and detailed low-energy nuclear spectroscopy using gamma-ray and neutron detectors. Designing and executing accelerator-based experiments for the measurement of nuclear resonances. Performing R-matrix and Hauser-Feshbach analyses for obtaining cross-sections of astrophysically important nuclear reactions.
• Nuclear Structure: α-clustering in light nuclei, nuclear levels of compound nuclei formed in the radiative capture and (α,n) reactions.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Programming Languages: C, C++, Python, Fortran
• Software: SRIM, ROOT, Matlab, Solid works, Labview, LATEX
• Detector Modeling Software: GEANT4, Garfield, MCNP

PUBLICATIONS

First author refereed publications

• Direct measurement of the low-energy resonances in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\text{Mg}\) reaction
  Shahina, J. Görres, D. Robertson, M. Couder, O. Gomez, A. Gula, M. Hanhardt, T. Kadlecek, R. Kelmar, P. Scholz, A. Simon, E. Stech, F. Strieder, and M. Wiescher
  Phys. Rev. C 106, 025805 (August 2022)

Publications in preparation

• Strength measurement of the 830 keV resonance in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,n)^{25}\text{Mg}\) reaction using a stilbene detector
  Shahina, R.J. deBoer, J. Görres, M. Febbraro, R. Kelmar, M. Matney, K. Manukyan, J.T. Natress, E. Stech, and M. Wiescher
• Low energy measurement of the \(^{25}\text{Mg}(\alpha,n)^{28}\text{Si}\) reaction via neutron spectroscopy
  Shahina, A. Boeltzig, K.T. Macon, R.J. deBoer, M. Febbraro, S. Aguilar, T. Anderson, S.P. Burcher, Y. Chen, A. Clark, A. Dombos, C. Dulal, B. Frentz, G. Gilardy, O. Gomez, J. Görres, A. Gula, S. Henderson, K. Howard, J.M. Kovoor, K.L. Jones, J. Kelley, R. Kelmar, J.M. Kovoor, Q. Liu, A. Majumdar, K. Manukyan, L. Morales, S. Mosby, S. Moylan, A. Nelson, S. Pain, C. Reingold, M. Renaud, N. Sensharma, C. Seymour, R. Toomey, B. Van de Kolk, J. Wilkinson, and M. Wiescher

Co-authored refereed publications

• \(B^{10}+\alpha\) reactions at Low Energies
  A. Gula, R.J. deBoer, S. Aguilar, J. Arroyo, C. Boomershine, B. Frentz, J. Görres, S. Henderson, R. Kelmar, S. McGuinness, K.V. Manukyan, S. Moylan, D. Robertson, C. Seymour, Shahina, E. Stech, W. Tan, J. Wilkinson, and M. Wiescher
  Phys. Rev. C 107, 025805 (February 2023)
• First near-threshold measurements of the \(^{13}\text{C}(\alpha,n)^{16}\text{O}\) reaction for low-background-environment characterization
  R.J. DeBoer, A. Gula, M. Febbraro, K. Brandenburg, C.R. Brune, J. Görres, Gy. Györky, R. Kelmar, K. Manukyan, Z. Meisel, D. Odell, M.T. Pigni, Shahina, E. Stech, W. Tan, and M. Wiescher
  Phys. Rev. C 106, 055808 (November 2022)
• Performance of neutron spectrum unfolding using deuterated liquid scintillator
  M. Febbraro, B. Becker, R.J. deBoer, K. Brandenburg, C. Brune, K.A. Chipps, T. Danley, A. Di Fulvio, Y. Jones-Alberty, K.T. Macon, Z. Meisel, T.N. Massey, R.J. Newby, S.D. Pain, S. Paneru, Shahina, M.S. Smith, D. Soltesz, S.K. Subedi, I. Sultana, R. Toomey
  Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A, 989, 164824 (February 2022)
• Light Response of Poly(ethylene 2,6-napthalate) to Neutrons
  Brennan Hackett, Richard deBoer, Yuri Efremenko, Michael Febbraro, Jason Nattress, Dan Bardayan, Chevelle Boomershine, Kristyn Brandenburg, Stefania Dede, Joseph Derkin, Ruoyu Fang, Adam Fritsch, August Gula, Gyurky Gyorgy, Gula Hamad, Yenuel Jones-Alberty, Beka Kelmar, Khachatur Manukyan, Miriam Matney, John McDonaugh, Shane Moylan, Patrick O’Malley, Shahina, and Nisha Singh
  arXiv:1811.12756 (April 2022)
• Determination of hexadecapole (\(\beta_4\)) deformation of the light-mass nucleus \(^{24}\text{Mg}\) using quasi-elastic measurement
  Y. K. Gupta, B. K. Nayak, U. Garg, N. Sensharma, Shahina, R. Gandhi, D. C. Biswas, M. Şenyi̇git, K. B. Howard, W. Tan, P. D. O’Malley, K. Hagino, M. Smith, O. Hall, M. Hall, Richard J. deBoer, K. Ostdiek, Q. Liu, A. Long, J. Hu, T. Anderson, M. Skulski, W. Lu, E. Lamere, S. Lyons, B. Frentz, A. Gyurjinyan, B. Van de Kolk, and C. Seymour
  Proceedings of the DAE Symp. on Nucl. Phys. 58 (2018)

GRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Physics and Astronomy August 2018 – Present

Direct Measurement of the low energy resonances in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\text{Mg}\) reaction

• Performed measurement of the low energy resonances in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\text{Mg}\) reaction at CASPAR (Compact Accelerator System for Performing Astrophysical Research), located 4850 ft. underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), South Dakota, focusing on (\(E_{\text{lab}}\) = 650, 830 keV) resonances, providing key contributions to the understanding of stellar neutron sources.

• Utilized HECTOR (\(\gamma\)-summing detector) for this measurement.

Low energy measurement of the \(^{25,26}\)Mg\((\alpha,n)^{28,29}\)Si reaction via neutron spectroscopy

• Performed precise measurements of \(^{25,26}\)Mg\((\alpha,n)^{28,29}\)Si reaction cross-sections at the University of Notre Dame’s nuclear science laboratory.

• Employed neutron spectroscopy techniques using ORNL Deuterated Spectroscopic Array (ODeSA) and MLEM Algorithm for neutron spectrum unfolding.

Measurement of the 830 keV resonance in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,n)^{25}\text{Mg}\) reaction

• Successfully measured the 830 keV resonance in\(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,n)^{25}\text{Mg}\) reaction using a stilbene scintillator detector, contributing to the understanding of neutron sources for the s-process nucleosynthesis.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali, India

M.S., Department of Physics, Advisor: Prof. Satyajit Jena 2017 – 2018

• Worked on the simulation and design of an Air shower Multi-Mesh Proportional Counter (Large area detector that can veto external particles present in cosmic radiation).

Bhabha-Atomic Research Center (BARC) Mumbai, India

Experimental Nuclear Physics, Advisor: Dr. Y.K. Gupta Summer 2017

• Performed detailed analysis of the data of experimentally extracted barrier distributions in the context of the fusion of heavy nuclei.

• Obtained a quantitative understanding of the entrance channel effects induced by the target and the projectile by performing high-precision measurements of the fusion excitation functions.

Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) New Delhi, India

Experimental Nuclear Physics, Advisor: Dr. Jagdish Gehlot Summer 2016

• Worked on the assembly and characterization of a gas detector.

• Used a radioactive sample of Americium-241 as an alpha source for the position extraction of ions detected by a Multi-wire Proportional Counter (MWPC).

• Received hands-on experience of making an MWPC in the lab.

Centre for Theoretical Physics (JMI) New Delhi, India

Classical Mechanics, Advisor: Prof. Ratin Adhikari Summer 2015

• Worked on the construction of Lagrangian from its equations of motion (an inverse problem of the calculus of variation) and transformation of generalized coordinates.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS

• Invited Talk: “Stellar neutron sources for the s-process nucleosynthesis” at the School-cum-workshop on Low Energy Nuclear Astrophysics at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India from Nov 7-10, 2023.
• Invited Talk: “Stellar neutron sources for the s-process nucleosynthesis” at the Nuclear Physics Seminar at University of Notre Dame, September 11, 2023.
• Invited Talk: “Measurement of the \(^{25}\text{Mg}(\alpha,n)^{28}\text{Si}\) reaction cross-section at low energy” at the 2021 R-matrix Workshop on Methods and Applications held from June 21 - 24, 2021.
• Invited talk: “Measurement of the \(^{25}\text{Mg}(\alpha,n)^{28}\text{Si}\) reaction cross-section at low energy” at the Nuclear Physics Seminar at University of Notre Dame, Aug 24, 2020.
• Talk: “Measurement of the low energy resonances in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\text{Mg}\) and \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,n)^{25}\text{Mg}\) reaction” at the International Symposium on Nuclear Astrophysics, Manipal, India from October 30- November 3, 2023.
• Talk: “Direct measurement of the low energy resonances in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\text{Mg}\) and \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,n)^{25}\text{Mg}\) reaction” at the Nuclei in Cosmos conference held at Institute of Basic Science, Daejeon, South Korea from September 17-22, 2023.
• Talk: “Measurement of the low energy resonances in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\text{Mg}\) and \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,n)^{25}\text{Mg}\) reaction” at the Fall meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society held in New Orleans from October 27-30, 2022.
• Talk: “Direct measurement of the low energy resonances in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\text{Mg}\) reaction” at the NPA-X (Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics) conference held at CERN, Geneva from 5-9 September 2022.
• Talk: “Direct measurement of the low energy resonances in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\text{Mg}\) reaction” at the 11th European Summer School on Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics held in Catania, Italy from 12-19 June, 2022.
• Talk: “Direct measurement of the low energy resonances in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\text{Mg}\) reaction” at the JINA-CEE Frontiers in Nuclear Astrophysics Meeting held at Notre Dame from May 25-27, 2022.
• Talk: “Direct measurement of the low energy resonances in \(^{22}\text{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\text{Mg}\) reaction” at the Fall meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society held from October 11-14, 2021.
• Talk: “Measurement of the \(^{25}\text{Mg}(\alpha,n)^{28}\text{Si}\) reaction cross-section at low energy” at the Fall meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society held from October 29–November 1, 2020.

SUMMER SCHOOLS AND WORKSHOPS

• July 11-22, 2022: National Nuclear Physics Summer School held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• June 12-19, 2022: 11th European Summer School on Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics, Catania, Italy.
• June 6-10, 2022: 19th Exotic Beam Summer School (EBSS2022), University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.
• June 21 - 24, 2021: 2021 R-matrix Workshop on Methods and Applications.
• June 22 – July 3, 2020: Machine Learning and Data Analysis for Nuclear Physics, a Nuclear TALENT Course at the ECT*, Trento, Italy.
• March 4-6, 2020: A.I. for Nuclear Physics workshop, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA.

FELLOWSHIPS AND SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS

• Innovation of Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) Fellowship 2013-2018
  Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)
  • Awarded a nationally competitive five-year INSPIRE fellowship by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India.
• Young Scientist’s Conference New Delhi, India 2015
  Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi
  • Represented IISER Mohali in the Young Scientist’s Conference as a part of India International Science Festival.
• Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) 2013
  All India engineering entrance examination
  • Ranked among the top 1 percent in JEE Mains and JEE Advanced, the ALL India engineering entrance examination for IITs.

LEADERSHIP AND OUTREACH

• Upward Bound, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
  Tutor Fall 2023
  • Provided academic guidance and mentoring to high school students.
  • Assisted students in preparing for college applications and achieving success in college.
  • Focused on developing effective study skills and offering SAT and ACT preparation support.
• Science Policy Initiative, Indianapolis, IN
  Poster Presentation Feb 24, 2022
  • Presented a poster on my research for the Indiana Science Communication Day event at the Indiana Statehouse.
  • Communicated my Ph.D. research to the Senator of South Bend at the Indiana Science Communication Day event at the Indiana Statehouse.
• Graduate Student Government, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
  Sustainability Chair 2021-2022
  • Maintained graduate student garden plots, reinvigorating composting practices in the garden and expanding the recycling initiatives across campus.

ACADEMIC SERVICE AND PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• Member of the Organizing Committee
  JINA-CEE Frontiers in Nuclear Astrophysics Conference
  Notre Dame, IN
  May 25-27, 2022
• Member
  Joint Institute of Nuclear Astrophysics
  Center for the Evolution of the Elements (JINA-CEE)
  Notre Dame, IN
  2018-Present
• Member
  International Research Network for Nuclear Astrophysics (IReNA)
  Notre Dame, IN
  2021-Present
• Member
  CASPAR Collaboration
  Notre Dame, IN
  2018-Present
• Member
  Science Policy Initiative at Notre Dame
  Notre Dame, IN
  2018-Present
• Member
  Association for Women in Science (AWIS)
  Notre Dame, IN
  2018-Present
• Member
  American Physical Society (APS)
  2018-Present

REFERENCES

• Prof. Michael Wiescher
  181 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556
  Email: Michael.C.Wiescher.1@nd.edu
• Dr. Michael T. Febbraro
  Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH, 45433
  Email: michael.febbraro@us.af.mil
• Dr. Richard James deBoer
  180A Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556
  Email: Richard.J.deBoer.12@nd.edu
• Prof. Manoel Couder
  222 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556
  Email: mcouder@nd.edu