Faculty and Staff Profile
Jennifer Fallis Starhunter
About
Jennifer Fallis Starhunter has been teaching physics lectures and labs at North Island College since 2014. She chose to study physics because of the way it allows us to understand the world we experience, as well as aspects of the universe that are too small or too large for us to experience directly. Starhunter earned her PhD from the University of Manitoba on the topic of Nuclear Astrophysics—a field of physics that explores how the properties of atomic nuclei affect the life-cycles of stars. Her thesis work was performed at Argonne National Laboratory in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois and involved experimental measurements of the nuclear masses of several radioactive isotopes and the study of how those masses affect the rates of nuclear reactions occurring in exploding stars. After graduating in 2009, she moved to Vancouver to become a postdoctoral researcher at TRIUMF, Canada's National Laboratory for Nuclear and Particle Physics, where they have the equipment and experience required to measure these types of reactions directly. Starhunter is still an active participant in that experimental program and is always excited to discuss it with her students.
Credentials
- PhD in Physics (University of Manitoba, 2009)
- BC Provincial Instructor Diploma (Vancouver Community College, 2018)
- BSc (Honours) in Physics, (University of Manitoba, 2004)
Research and published work
- J. R. Tomlinson, J. Fallis, A. M. Laird, S. P. Fox, C. Akers, M. Alcorta, M. A. Bentley, G. Christian, B. Davids, T. Davinson, B. R. Fulton, N. Galinski, A. Rojas, C. Ruiz, N. de Sévéville, M. Shen, and A. C. Shotter, “Measurement of 23Na(α,p)26Mg at energies relevant to 26Al production in massive stars.” Physical Review Letters 115 (2015): 052702
- J. Fallis, “Nuclear astrophysics measurements with DRAGON." in ISAC and ARIEL: The TRIUMF Radioactive Beam Facilities and the Scientific Program, edited by Jens Dilling, Reiner Krücken, and Lia Merminga, 219-224. Springer, 2014. Originally published in Hyperfine Interactions, 225, (2014): 219-224
- J. Fallis, A. Parikh, P. F. Bertone, S. Bishop, L. Buchmann, A. A. Chen, G. Christian, J. A. Clark, J. M. D’Auria, B. Davids, C. M. Deibel, B. R. Fulton, U. Greife, B. Guo, U. Hager, C. Herlitzius, D. A. Hutcheon, J. José, A. M. Laird, E. T. Li, Z. H. Li, G. Lian, W. P. Liu, L. Martin, K. Nelson, D. Ottewell, P. D. Parker, S. Reeve, A. Rojas, C. Ruiz, K. Setoodehnia, S. Sjue, C. Vockenhuber, Y. B. Wang, and C. Wrede, “Constraining nova observables: direct measurements and upper-limits of 33S(p,γ)34Cl reaction cross- sections.” Physical Review C 88 (2013): 045801
- A. Simon, J. Fallis, A. Spyrou, A. Laird, C. Ruiz, L. Buchmann, B.R. Fulton, D.A. Hutcheon, L. Martin, D. Ottewell, and A. Rojas, “Radiative capture reactions with heavy beams: extending the capabilities of DRAGON.” European Physical Journal A 49 (2013): 60
- D. A. Hutcheon, C. Ruiz, J. Fallis, J. M. D’Auria, B. Davids, U. Hager, L. Martin, D. F. Ottewell, S. Reeve, and A. Rojas, “Measurement of Radiative Capture Resonance Energies with an Extended Gas Target.” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 689 (2012): 70-74
- J. Fallis, J. A. Clark, K. S. Sharma, G. Savard, F. Buchinger, S. Caldwell, A. Chaudhuri, J. E. Crawford, C. M. Deibel, S. Gulick, A. A. Hecht, D. Lascar, J. K. P. Lee, A. F. Levand, G. Li, B. F. Lundgren, A. Parikh, S. Russell, M. Scholte-van de Vorst, N. D. Scielzo, R. E. Segel, H. Sharma, S. Sinha, M. Sternberg, T. Sun, I. Tanihata, J. Van Schelt, J. C.Wang, Y.Wang, C. Wrede, and Z. Zhou, “Mass measurements of proton-rich nuclides from Nb to Rh along the np- and rp-process paths using the Canadian Penning Trap mass spectrometer.” Physical Review C 84 (2011): 045807
- J. Fallis, J. A. Clark, K. S. Sharma, G. Savard, F. Buchinger, S. Caldwell, J. E. Crawford, C. M. Deibel, J. L. Fisker, S. Gulick, A. A. Hecht, D. Lascar, J. K. P. Lee, A. F. Levand, G. Li, B. F. Lundgren, A. Parikh, S. Russell, M. Scholte-van de Vorst, N. D. Scielzo, R. E. Segel, H. Sharma, S. Sinha, M. Sternberg, T. Sun, I. Tanihata, J. Van Schelt, J. C. Wang, Y. Wang, C. Wrede, and Z. Zhou, “A determination of the proton separation energy of 93Rh from mass measurements.” Physical Review C 78 (2008): 022801(R)
Programs taught
- Associate of Science Degree
- Engineering Foundations Certificate
- Island Pre-Health Science Advanced Diploma
- University Studies
- PHY-050 College Preparatory Physics I
- PHY-060 College Preparatory Physics II
- PHY-100 Introduction to Physics I
- PHY-101 Introduction to Physics II
- PHY-120 Principles of Physics I
- PHY-121 Principles of Physics II
- PHY-141 Mechanics I (Statics)
- PHY-170 Engineering Mechanics 1: Statics and Dynamics
- SSA-100 The Solar System And Space Exploration
- SSA-101 Stars And Deep Space Astronomy