Alumni
Alumna among Nuclear Experts
The Deane Conference featured several nuclear industry experts, including Kelli Markham ’98. A chemical safety reviewer at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the regulatory agency that licenses commercial nuclear facilities, the former chemistry major helps ensure that proposed nuclear facilities meet safety standards.
At the conference, she delivered a talk during the session “The Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Reprocessing vs. Once-through,” giving the NRC’s perspective on the issue of reprocessing as it relates to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership initiative.
Originally a biology major with plans to go to medical school, Markham switched majors after an organic chemistry class with Professor of Chemistry Bill Martin. “What I liked about biology was the chemistry aspect of it,” she recalls. “I went to Professor Martin and said, ‘I’m thinking about pursuing chemistry as a major.’ He said he had a transfer slip right here.”
After graduation she held a summer internship at Abbott Laboratories and worked for the U.S. Department of Energy testing soil and groundwater samples for contamination.
Markham earned a doctoral degree in mechanistic chemistry from University of Iowa in 2004 and taught chemistry there until she joined the NRC two years later where she works on reprocessing related projects.