Amy Hixon joined the University of Notre Dame as faculty in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences in 2013. She is actively affiliated with ND Energy and focuses her research in the area of sustainable and secure nuclear.
Svetlana Neretina joined the University of Notre Dame as faculty in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in 2016. She too is actively affiliated with ND Energy and focuses her research in the area of nanostructured materials for energy conversion, plasmonics, and catalysis.
Amy and Svetlana, as well as many other women, are being honored during National Women’s History Month in March. This year’s theme is “Nevertheless, She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.” As underrepresented women in science and engineering, we are especially proud to recognize Amy and Svetlana for their perseverance and contributions in these areas and wanted to highlight some of their successes as a way to demonstrate the power of voice, action, and believing that meaningful and lasting change is possible.
We asked Amy and Svetlana some questions to get a glimpse into their lives and gain a better understanding of their journeys to where they are today. Their responses are below and are intended to, hopefully, encourage women to get involved in science and engineering, if that is their passion, and to understand that there are people and circumstances throughout life that can and will inspire them to have the courage and the voice to persevere until their dreams come true.
We hope you enjoy learning more about these two powerful women who “nevertheless, persisted” and achieved their dreams of becoming accomplished engineers, educators, and researchers.
Amy Hixon
Who or what inspired you to become a scientist or engineer?
Believe it or not, one of those talent inventory tests that I had to take as a high school student! Forensic anthropology popped up as a suggested career. Of course, I had no idea what that meant, but after some research I realized that it was related to forensic biology, DNA sequencing, and things of that nature (the TV show CSI was popular at the time). When I was considering which colleges to apply to, schools that had a forensics major or minor rose to the top of the list. I wound up deciding to attend Radford University in southwest Virginia (near Virginia Tech) and had originally declared a biology major and forensics minor. My (female) general chemistry teacher wound up being very influential and by the end of my first semester, I had switched degrees from biology to chemistry.
Did you know at the time that there would be fewer females in your field? If you did, what was the driving force behind your decision to choose it anyway?
The only time I remember noticing that there were not very many women was in my calculus-based physics class in college. There was only one other girl in the class, and we were in different lab sections.
How did you become interested in energy research and education?
As an undergraduate, I had to take a geography class to fulfill a general education course. I chose to take a class which introduced me to the concept of nuclear energy (don't ask me how that has anything to do with geography...). From there, I found out about the Nuclear Chemistry Summer Schools, applied, and was accepted. The summer school site director did a great job of bringing in faculty from different academic institutions so we could learn about graduate work in nuclear chemistry in technology. That's how I found out about Clemson University and chose to go there for my M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.
What area(s) of energy do you have the most expertise and how did you become proficient in these areas?
My expertise is in "Safe and Sustainable Nuclear Energy." As far as academic preparation goes, in addition to the Nuclear Chemistry Summer School, I have M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Radiochemistry. I also had a summer internship at Savannah River National Laboratory and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The latter turned into a part-time job that I was allowed to keep (via telework) as I finished my Ph.D.
What do you consider to be your greatest strength as a female researcher?
I have the kind of personality where if you tell me I can't do something, then I try to prove you wrong. I think that's served me well in a field where I'm a member of an "underrepresented group."
What do you consider to be your greatest challenge as a female researcher?
There are not very many female academics who started families before achieving tenure. Setting precedent in an area can be stressful, especially since I know I'm a role model for many female graduate students.
In the classroom and the laboratory, what methods of teaching do you use to inspire others to be successful scientists and engineers?
I lead and teach with examples and try to show my excitement for my field of study.
What words of advice do you have for young females considering STEM education and careers?
Study what you're passionate about and don't let one course in your major turn you away from your dream career. Everyone has that one class that they hated.
Svetlana Neretina
Who or what inspired you to become a scientist or engineer?
I have always enjoyed learning “how stuff works”. My favorite high school subjects were physics and chemistry. These interests led me to pursue a Ph.D. in Engineering Physics that was focused on the synthesis of solar cell materials. As a postdoctoral researcher, I joined a group that focused on the chemistry of metal nanostructures. This interdisciplinary background made me realize that my true passion was Materials Science, because there is always the possibility of discovering new materials with amazing properties that can change the world.
Did you know at the time that there would be fewer females in your field? If you did, what was the driving force behind your decision to choose it anyway?
My goal was always to pursue what was of interest to me. The fact that women are underrepresented in the field of science and engineering was something I always knew as a student, but never thought that much about. As a faculty member, however, it is hard not to notice that most of your colleagues are men. I have since come to believe that it is extremely important for both male and female engineering students to see successful female faculty members.
How did you become interested in energy research and education?
As a graduate student, I studied materials for solar cell applications. To me, it was thrilling to first make a material and then see it turned into a device that produced electricity.
What do you consider to be your greatest strength as a female researcher?
While I share the same goals, motivations, and approaches as male researchers, I believe that my enthusiasm for research is more obvious.
What do you consider to be your greatest challenge as a female researcher?
Earlier in my career, I found it especially hard to deal with those who wanted to believe that my successes were not deserved. Now, my greatest challenge is finding a work-life balance. I also believe that it is not well-recognized that there are extra commitments and pressures that come with being one of only a few female professors in a department.
In the classroom and the laboratory, what methods of teaching do you use to inspire others to be successful scientists and engineers?
I am trying to show interesting applications for the subjects I teach. For example, when teaching a Photovoltaic course, I am showing new developments in the solar industry such as smart windows that generate electricity.
What words of advice do you have for young females considering STEM education and careers?
I would, first and foremost, advise them to follow their passion and interests. If your passion is engineering, do not worry about being underrepresented – instead create designs and products that take advantage of your unique perspective.
Where they are today …
Amy Hixon is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences and principal investigator in the Actinide Science at Notre Dame Laboratory. This is where Hixon and her group focus their research efforts on chemical processes at the solid-solution interface, specifically those that control actinide behavior. Using a combination of wet chemistry, instrumental, and modeling techniques, the Hixon team works to understand the physical and chemical properties of the actinide elements, mineral surfaces, and how the two interact, which allows them to better predict actinide behavior in natural and engineered systems. This focus on the actinide elements is the foundation of Hixon’s Early Career Research Program, “Understanding the Chemical Complexity of Multi-component Systems: Uranium Polyoxometalates as Nanosorbents.” She was one of only 59 honorees across the country who received an Early Career Award from the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy in 2017. This program recognizes exceptional researchers during their formative and crucial early years of their careers.
Hixon received her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Environmental Engineering & Earth Science from Clemson University in 2013 and 2008, respectively, and her B.S. degree in Chemistry from Radford University in 2006.
Svetlana Neretina is an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and principal investigator in the Nanomaterial Fabrication Research Laboratory. This is where Neretina and her group focus their research efforts on the synthesis and fabrication of noble metal (plasmonic) nanomaterials for catalytic and sensing applications. These nanostructures are an extraordinary class of materials and are used in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, environmental remediation, chemical synthesis, and sensing technologies. Neretina and her team use a combination of fabrication methods, such as nanoimprint lithography, self-assembly, and solution-phase redox reactions, to define periodic arrays of complex noble metal nanostructures that collectively express the photo- and chemically active surfaces needed to prototype photovoltaic and sensing devices. These same nanostructures are being investigated as catalysts for hydrogen generation and as photocatalysts capable of promoting green chemical syntheses powered by sunlight.
Neretina received her Ph.D. in Engineering Physics from McMaster University, and conducted her postdoctoral research in the area of plasmonic nanomaterials under the supervision of Mostafa El-Sayed in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Before coming to Notre Dame, she joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Temple University. This is where she received a 2011 NSF CAREER award from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Materials Research.
ND Energy is a University Research Center whose mission is to build a better world by creating new energy technologies and systems and educating individuals to help solve the most critical energy challenges facing our world today. For more information, visit the ND Energy website at energy.nd.edu or contact Barbara Villarosa, Business and Communications Program Director, at bvillaro@nd.edu or 574-631-4776.