Ciara Sivels
Ciara Sivels (born 1990) is an American nuclear engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. She was the first black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan. She was named an IF/THEN Ambassador in 2019 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Early life and education. Sivels is from Chesapeake, Virginia. She attended Hickory High School. Sivels was originally interested in culinary arts, but took an Advanced Placement class in chemistry and became interested in science. She completed her undergraduate studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During  her time at MIT, Sivels interned for Teach For America before considering a career in academic research. She also served in various leadership roles at the MIT chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. Sivels joined the University of Michigan in 2013 for her graduate studies, working on Beta-Gamma coincidence-detectors and nuclear forensics with Sara Pozzi. Her thesis considered nuclear nonproliferation using radioxenon for nuclear explosion monitoring in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She developed a new "plug and play" radioxenon detector device to improve monitoring at. She received the first Place Poster Award US  Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration University and Industry Technical Interchange in 2016. During her graduate studies, Sivels was one of three black women completing their PhD. She engaged with the Detroit Pre-College Engineering Program, supporting high school students from minority backgrounds. She also founded the Women in Nuclear Engineering in Radiological Sciences group at UoM. In 2018, Sivels was the first black woman to earn a PhD in nuclear engineering at the University of Michigan, considered the top nuclear engineering program in the United States. Research. Sivels joined Johns Hopkins University in 2018. Her work at the  Applied Physics Laboratory is funded through the Department of Defense, and is highly classified. Sivels is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers. Awards and honors. In 2019, Sivels was chosen to be one of the 125 national American Association for the Advancement of Science IF/THEN Ambassadors. The award recognizes the work of X as part of an outreach initiative to encourage the representation of women in STEM fields. She was named a "Millennial to Watch" by the US Office of Nuclear Energy in 2019. Sivels was featured on a GoldieBlox episode "Draw Her Life" empowering girls  in STEM fields.