PNNL

Cari Seifert is a Laboratory Fellow within the National Security Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Dr. Seifert has more than 25 years of research and development experience in methods and systems for ionizing radiation detection, spectroscopy, and imaging for emergency response and treaty verification.

In 2023, Dr. Seifert was named PNNL’s chief scientist for the Low-Yield Nuclear Monitoring (LYNM) program, a collaboration between four national laboratories and the Nevada National Security Site. She was the deputy experiment lead for the Physics Experiment 1 project, a large multi-laboratory venture under the LYNM program, for three years prior. The LYNM program is designed to improve U.S. capabilities to detect and characterize low-yield and evasively conducted underground nuclear explosions.

For 10 years, Dr. Seifert served as the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Subsector Manager for Nuclear Counterterrorism and Incident Response at PNNL, which was responsible for program oversight, business development, and prioritization of internal investments of that portfolio.

Dr. Seifert also led PNNL’s Nuclear Incident Response Program, which develops new technologies and provides expert scientific support for the nation’s radiological emergency response assets at NNSA and partner federal agencies. She continues to serve as a responder on the Consequence Management Home Team.

Since joining PNNL in 2004, Dr. Seifert has become a recognized expert in aerial radiation detection and gamma-ray imaging. Her research has included the development and application of spectroscopic anomaly detection methods, algorithms for locating and tracking radiological sources, and novel sensor systems development, including multi-channel spectroscopic imagers and high-range sensors for post-nuclear-event characterization of radiological debris.

• Emergency response
• Nuclear explosion monitoring
• Nuclear instrumentation
• Nuclear nonproliferation
• Radiation detection
• Gamma-ray imaging
• Gamma-ray spectroscopy

• PhD in nuclear engineering and radiological sciences, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
• MSE in nuclear engineering, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
• BSE in nuclear engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Chair, Health Physics Society/Homeland Security Section/Nuclear Terrorism Preparedness Work Group 
• Member, Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center QA/QC Focus Group
• U.S. Delegate, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
• Instructor, Nuclear Science for National Security Summer School, 2012—2018
• Participant, Nonproliferation Graduate Fellowship Program Mock Senate Hearing, 2012
• Member, Emerging Technologies for Imaging Working Group, 2008
• Chair, NNSA/NA-42 Aerial Neutron Search Viability Working Group, 2007
• Member, IEEE
• Past Committee Member, SPIE Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics Conference 
• Past Reviewer, DHS/DNDO Academic Research Initiative Proposals
• Journal reviewer, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A
• Journal reviewer, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 

• PNNL Laboratory Fellow
• U.S. Patent U.S. 7928399 B2: “Method and System for Imaging a Radiation Source,” Scott Morris, Mitchell Myjak, and Carolyn E. Seifert.
• R&D 100 Award – 2010 – GammaTracker—a handheld radioisotope identifier with directional capability—was selected as one of the top 100 inventions in 2010 by R&D Magazine. 
• PNNL NSD Project Team of the Year, 2010 
• PNNL Exceptional Contribution Award (three times from 2019—2024)
• PNNL Outstanding Performance Award (six times from 2006—2024) 
• Department of Energy Nuclear Engineering and Health Physics Fellowship, 1999—2003