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Clarice Evone Phelps () is an American nuclear chemist researching the processing of radioactive transuranic elements at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). She was part of ORNL's team that collaborated with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research to discover tennessine (element 117). The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) recognizes her as the first African American woman to be involved with the discovery of a chemical element.
Phelps was formerly in the US Navy Nuclear Power Program. At ORNL, Phelps manages programs in the Department of Energy's Isotope & Fuel Cycle Technology Division investigating industrial uses of nickel-63 and selenium-75.
From 2016 to 2020, Phelps earned a M.S. in mechanical engineering through the nuclear and radiochemistry program at the University of Texas at Austin. , Phelps is a PhD student in the nuclear engineering program at University of Tennessee.
Phelps served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Navy Nuclear Power Program. She spent four and a half years aboard the aircraft carrier , operating the nuclear reactor and steam generator chemistry controls, and maintaining the water in the reactor. She was deployed twice, and was the only black woman in her division on the ship.
Phelps was involved in the discovery of the second-heaviest known element, tennessine (element 117). She was part of a three-month process to purify 22 mg of berkelium-249, which was shipped to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and combined with calcium-48 in a fusion reaction to create tennessine. In IUPAC's crediting Oak Ridge laboratory collectively as principal co-discoverer of tennessine, it acknowledged 61 individuals at ORNL who had contributed to the project including members of operations staff, support personnel, and researchers such as Phelps. It recognized Phelps as the first African-American woman involved with the discovery of a chemical element.
When Oak Ridge National Laboratory held a gala to honor and celebrate the team that discovered tennessine, Phelps's name was left off the list, and when she showed up, she cried as she realized that she did not have a seat at the table with the other scientists. In addition, a plaque to commemorate the discovery was created to be hung up in perpetuity at the laboratory, and once again, it omitted her name. Phelps was told that her name had been cut off by mistake due to a line break in a spreadsheet. While the laboratory later claimed that the "error was quickly corrected", it was only after Phelps fought for several months to have her name included that the laboratory acquiesced.
Phelps has contributed to additional research efforts, including those of spectroscopic analysis and spectrophotometric valence state studies of plutonium-238 and neptunium-237 and 238 for the NASA (NASA). Phelps has also studied electrodeposition with californium-252 for the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade project.
Phelps is a member of the American Chemical Society.
Phelps was featured on the Oak Ridge Associated Universities STEM stories program, partnering with nearby schools in Tennessee. Phelps received the 2017 YWCA Knoxville Tribute to Women Award in the category Technology, Research, and Innovation. This award recognizes "local women who lead their fields in technology and excel in community service".
In 2019, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) featured Phelps in the Periodic Table of Younger Chemists in recognition of "her outstanding commitment to research and public engagement, as well as being an important advocate for diversity". She was one of two Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers thus honored. Phelps is associated on this honorary periodic table with the element einsteinium, having along with others, including Julie Ezold, researched purification of einsteinium-254, and her fellow awardee, the post-doctoral researcher Nathan Brewer of Oak Ridge laboratory's Physics Division, is associated with the element tennessine. Their inclusion follows a competition by the IUPAC and the International Younger Chemists Network (IYCN).
At the December 6, 2019 , Phelps presented the talk "How I Claimed a Seat at the Periodic Table", where, according to TED Talks, she "debunked the myth of solitary genius and challenged institutional elitism by sharing stories of women of color making their way in science".
Wikipedia article
In September 2018, British physicist Jessica Wade created an article on the English Wikipedia about
External links
Categories: Living People, Year Of Birth Missing, African-american Women Engineers, 21st-century American Women Engineers, African-american Engineers, 21st-century American Chemists, Tennessee State University Alumni, Engineers From Tennessee, Military Personnel From Tennessee, American Chemical Engineers, American Women Chemists, 21st-century American Engineers, Oak Ridge National Laboratory People, United States Navy Non-commissioned Officers, Female United States Navy Personnel, African-american Female Military Personnel, Nuclear Chemists, University Of Texas At Austin Alumni, 21st-century African-american Women, 21st-century African-american Scientists, African-american United States Navy Personnel, Chemists From Tennessee, African-american Women Scientists
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