Legislative Fellow for US Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee

AIChE Knoxville - Oak Ridge Section

January 2021 Meeting - Virtual Meeting & In-Person Meeting

Date: Thursday, January 14, 2021

Location: K Town Tavern, 320 N Peters Rd, Knoxville, TN 37922

Attending the Zoom Meeting is Free. Please use Eventbrite to register.

5:00 pm Executive Committee Meeting (All members welcome)

5:30 pm Social/Networking/Virtual Student Poster Presentation

6:00 pm Dinner - $20 for members and free for students (Pay by cash or check onsite, or in advance using Eventbrite. There is no charge for the program or PDH Certificate)

7:00 pm Program - Heath A. Huckabay, ORNL, Legislative Fellow for US Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee

Legislative Fellow for US Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee

Abstract - The US Senate constitutes the upper chamber of the legislature of the United States and has several unique powers, including the confirmation of presidential Cabinet nominees, confirmation of Supreme Court justices, and execution of trials by those impeached in the House. In combination with the House of Representatives, the Senate is responsible for oversight of governmental agencies and departments and passage of legislation for maintaining government operations. Two senators in the chamber, who serve six-year terms, equally represent each state in the union. Through an agreement with the Secretary of Energy, individual senators can request advisory scientific support by means of a legislative fellow, commonly provided through its network of national laboratories. This informal discussion will include a short career outline, a description of the roles and responsibilities of a legislative fellow in the US Senate, and an overview of several specific events that occurred during a decidedly unique year.

Speaker Biography - Heath A. Huckabay is a materials scientist in the Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and is currently serving as a legislative fellow for US Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. In his current role, he advises Senator Blackburn on spectrum, nonmilitary aerospace, research and development, and STEM policy; in addition, he functions as a liaison between the Senator’s office and ORNL leadership. In his role at ORNL, Heath develops analytical methods for nuclear forensics and nonproliferation applications using a broad range of instrumental and signal processing techniques, including optical microscopy, spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, chemical separations, and time-series data analysis. His recent work involves fundamental science related to the nuclear fuel cycle, instrument design and application for gaseous material identification, characterization, and quantification, and analysis of target signals of interest. Before joining ORNL, he received his BS in forensic chemistry from Sam Houston State University and his PhD in analytical chemistry from the University of Kansas.