Diem selected for NASEM New Voices program

nuclear engineering and engineering physics Assistant Professor Stephanie Diem has been selected as a member of the New Voices in Science, Engineering and Medicine Program’s 2021-2023 cohort of 22 early-career leaders from academia, industry, government, and non-profit organizations.

The new members are rising stars in their fields and were selected through a competitive review process out of nearly 300 applicants.

The New Voices program was launched by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in 2018 as an initiative to bring diverse perspectives from early-career U.S. leaders to important dialogues around how science, engineering, and medicine are shaping the global future.

With support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the new cohort will gather over a two-year period with a senior advisory committee to discuss key emerging challenges in science, engineering, and medicine, engage nationally with a wider group of young leaders from diverse groups, and attend international events on science policy.

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Diem’s experimental plasma physics research focuses on using microwaves to heat and drive current in magnetically confined, high-temperature plasmas for fusion energy development. Diem is the principal investigator of the Pegasus-III experiment, a new magnetic confinement fusion experiment funded by the U.S. Department of Energy studying innovative plasma startup techniques in an effort to reduce the cost and complexity of future fusion reactors. Prior to joining the faculty at UW-Madison, she was a staff scientist in the Fusion Energy Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on long-term assignment at DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego, California.

Diem currently serves on the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP) Executive Committee, the APS-DPP Committee for Women in Plasma Physics and is the faculty advisor of the new APS-sponsored student group Solis, which is designed to support and create community among women and gender minorities in plasma physics fields at UW-Madison. She created the APS-DPP sponsored annual Visual Science Communication Award and is co-leader of the U.S. Fusion Outreach Team, a grassroots organization focused on reducing barriers to outreach efforts. Additionally, she was one of the organizers of the Early Career Fusion Scientists (ECFS) forum, a grassroots organization which initiated discussions and polling among the early-career community to provide input to the NASEM committee on a strategic plan for U.S. burning plasma research.