Jenifer C. Shafer

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry

Professor Shafer joined the faculty at Colorado School of Mines in the fall of 2012 after a two-year employment at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Jenifer Shafer is an Associate Professor in the Chemistry Department and Nuclear Science & Engineering Program at the Colorado School of Mines. She received her Ph.D. from Washington State University in 2010, and a B.S. from Colorado State University in 2005. Jenifer is interested in advancing f-element separations technology through the use of new materials, supramolecular assembly, unique oxidation states, and controlling electronic structure.  Advancing f-element separations technology has broad applications from advanced nuclear fuel cycles, nuclear forensics, and renewable technology.  She is the co-author of several book chapters, over 50 technical manuscripts, and has led or collaborated on projects receiving over $30M in funding from the DOE, DOD, and DHS. Professor Shafer has received numerous awards and honors including Early Career awards from DOE and DHS and a Seaborg Visiting Scholar Fellowship for her sabbatical at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Her professional service includes leading sections and authorship of DOE Basic Research Needs reports and participation as a panelist for the National Academy of Sciences study, U.S. Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Support Capabilities. She is currently serving on the American Chemical Society’s Committee on Science working on chemical policy matters.

Education

BS – Colorado State University
PhD – Washington State University

Significant Leadership, Service & Honors

2022: ACS Fellow
2021-2023: Program Director | ARPA-E
2020-2022: Member | ACS Committee on Science | Policy Subcommittee
2020: Los Alamos National Laboratory Seaborg Visiting Fellow
2019-2020: Panelist | NAS Enhancing U.S. Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Support Capabilities
2019: Chair | ACS Division of Nuclear Chemistry & Technology
2017: ACS I&EC Class of Influential Researchers
2014: DOE Early Career Awardee

Top 5 Cited Pubs:

1. Braley, J.C.; Grimes, T.S.; Nash, K.L.*; Alternatives to HDEHP and DTPA for Simplified TALSPEAK Separations. Invited Paper, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2012, 51 (2), 629–638.
2. Kelley, M.; Su, J.; Urban, M.; Luckey, M.; Yang, P.*;Shafer, J.C.* On the origin of covalent bonding in heavy actinides. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2017, 139 (29), 9901–9908.
3. Silver, M.A.; Cary, S.K.; Johnson, J.A.; Baumbach, R.E.; Arico, A.A.; Luckey, M.; Urban, M.; Wang, J.C.; Polinski, M.J.; Chemey, A.; Lui, G.; Chen, K-W.; Van Cleve, S.M.: Marsh, M.L.; Eaton, T.M.; van de Burgt, L.J.; Gray, A.L.; Hobart, D.E.; Hanson, K.; Maron, L.; Braley, J.C.*; Albrecht-Schmitt, T.E.* Characterization of berkelium (III) dipicolinate and borate compounds in solution and the solid state. Science, 2016, 353 (6302), aaf3762.
4. Lumetta, G.J.*; Gelis, A.V.; Braley, J.C.; Carter, J.C.; Pittman, J.W.; Warner, M.G.; Vandegrift, G.F. The TRUSPEAK Concept: Combining CMPO and HDEHP for Separating Trivalent Lanthanides from the Transuranic Elements. Solv. Ext. Ion. Exch., 2013, 31 (3), 223-236.
5. Baldwin, A.G.; Ivanov, A.S.; Ellis, R.J.; Moyer, B.A.; Bryantsev, V.S.; Shafer, J.C.* Outer-Sphere Water Clusters Tune the Lanthanide Selectivity of Diglycolamides, ACS Cent. Sci., 2018, 4 (6), 739–747.