Jessamyn Fairfield (born 13 October 1984) is an American physicist who researches

biocompatible Biocompatibility is related to the behavior of biomaterials in various contexts. The term refers to the ability of a material to perform with an appropriate host response in a specific situation. The ambiguity of the term reflects the ongoing ...

nanomaterials Nanomaterials describe, in principle, chemical substances or materials of which a single unit is sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 and 100 nm (the usual definition of nanoscale). Nanomaterials research takes a materials science ...

and

neuromorphic Neuromorphic computing is an approach to computing that is inspired by the structure and function of the human brain. A neuromorphic computer/chip is any device that uses physical artificial neurons to do computations. In recent times, the term ...

devices at

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

Early life and education

Fairfield earned a BA in physics and applied math at the

University of California Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley ...

in 2005, before an MSc and PhD in physics at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 2011. Her PhD dissertation is titled “Memory and Coupling in Nanocrystal Optoelectronic Devices”

Research and career

After her PhD, Fairfield joined

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

as a research fellow. Her research focuses on

, examining the

optoelectronic Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radia ...

properties of nanocrystals and

nanowire file:[email protected], upright=1.2, Crystalline 2×2-atom tin selenide nanowire grown inside a single-wall carbon nanotube (tube diameter ≈1 nm). A nanowire is a nanostructure in the form of a wire with the diameter of the order of a nanometre ( ...

s. She is interested in

materials, whose function mimics the synaptic connection of the brain. Alongside publishing in academic journals, she is a regular contributor to the popular science magazine ''

Physics World ''Physics World'' is the membership magazine of the Institute of Physics, one of the largest physical societies in the world. It is an international monthly magazine covering all areas of physics, pure and applied, and is aimed at physicists in ...

''. In 2018, Fairfield completed a residency program in the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

, where she worked on a project on the

effects of climate change on humans Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an overall warming trend, changes to precipitation patterns, and more extreme weather. As ...

. In 2019, she participated in the Homeward Bound leadership development program and

Antarctic expedition This list of Antarctica expeditions is a chronological list of expeditions involving Antarctica. Although the existence of a southern continent had been hypothesized as early as the writings of Ptolemy in the 1st century AD, the South Pole was n ...

during which she also studied climate change.

Public engagement

Fairfield was the lead writer at DARTofPhysics, a campaign prompted a citywide discussion about physics through a series of adverts on public transport. In 2015, she joined Dublin's City of Physics program, acting as a blog editor and taking over management of Bright Club. She trains speakers and funds the initiative through

Science Foundation Ireland Science Foundation Ireland (SFI; ) was a statutory body in Ireland. It was an agency of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, with responsibility for funding oriented basic and applied research in th ...

. In 2016, she gave the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

Summer Session, bringing researchers together with live music, to explore electronics and the brain. Fairfield brought Soapbox Science to

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

in 2017, bringing women in science to public spaces to talk about their research, and returned to organize its 2018 and 2019 events. She is the science reporter for Newstalk's radio show "Futureproof". She gives regular public talks as well as appearing in newspapers and on television. In December 2017 she spoke at

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

TUM in Munich.

Awards

* 2017 –

Mary Somerville Medal * 2013 –

Early Career Communicator Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfield, Jessamyn 1984 births Living people 21st-century American physicists American women physicists American science communicators Science communication award winners University of California, Berkeley alumni 21st-century American women scientists