Bio

Mariah Ramirez is a NSSPI graduate who earned a M.S. degree in nuclear engineering with a nonproliferation specialization in May of 2021. Ramirez worked with Dr. Sunil Chirayath and Dr. Charles M. Folden, III of the Chemistry Department and the Cyclotron Institute at Texas A&M. Ramirez is working towards the development of safeguard measures for neptunium-237 through the use of radiochemical processes, nuclear engineering concepts, and radiation detection applications to develop a methodology for measuring and detecting neptunium based off nuclear signatures for various storage types. This is beneficial for safeguards because it enhances nuclear material accountancy and control.

Ramirez earned a Bachelor's of Science in Physics, Radiation Option, from the University of Texas at Austin in 2017 and plans to receive her Master’s degree from Texas A&M University in May 2020. Her Master's work will look at various MCNP models and simulations of various fuel assemblies for varying reactor types to quantify the amount of neptunium expected. This will further be supported through radiochemical separations of irradiated fuel samples.

In 2020, Ramirez was awarded a Seaborg Institute Graduate Research Fellowship to study at Los Alamos National Laboratory.