Danielle Speller named winner of Joseph A. Johnson Award for Excellence

Physicist Danielle Speller was named the winner of the American Institute of Physics' 2024 Joseph A. Johnson Award for Excellence. Now in its fifth year, the award is given jointly with the National Society of Black Physicists to recognize early-career scientists who demonstrate scientific ingenuity and impactful mentorship and service. It comes with a $5,000 award and an invitation to give colloquia at partner universities.

Image credit: Courtesy of Danielle Speller

Assistant professor in the Krieger School's William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Speller focuses on experimental nuclear and particle astrophysics. She researches the nature of matter and mass through low-energy, cryogenic searches for physics beyond the standard model. Speller received an honorable mention for the award in 2023.

"I'm really honored to have been chosen as this year's recipient of the Joseph A. Johnson Award for Excellence. The NSBP played an important role in my decision to pursue a career in research," Speller says. "I'm also honored by the award's focus on research and mentorship. Over the years I have worked with many excellent colleagues, mentors, students, and peers, including among the previous awardees, who have enthusiastically embodied servant leadership in the encouragement, training, and support of their mentees, professionally and personally. I am honored to be named among them."

Speller's lab focuses on the search for dark matter interactions and for a nuclear process called neutrinoless double-beta decay, with the ultimate goal of finding new physics that will offer a better understanding of the nature of matter and mass, and new insight into fundamental physics and cosmology.

In this pursuit, Speller works with two types of experimental nuclear and particle physics projects. The Haloscope at Yale Sensitive to Axion Cold Dark Matter (HAYSTAC) is a cutting-edge experiment looking for axions. The lab is also involved in preparation and R&D for an upcoming next-generation axion experiment, the Axion Longitudinal Plasma Haloscope (ALPHA). Meanwhile, the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) in Assergi, Italy, is part of one of the leading searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay. In addition to ongoing work with CUORE, the lab is involved in preparations for the CUORE Upgrade with Particle IDentification (CUPID).

"I am delighted to learn of Danielle's Joseph A. Johnson Award and cannot imagine a more deserving recipient," says Robert Leheny, professor and chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department. "Since joining the faculty at JHU, Danielle has been making a tremendously positive impact on our department and on the broader community, both through the exciting research program in experimental particle physics that she is building and through her engaged mentorship. In particular, our department is fortunate to host a vibrant chapter of the NSBP, and Danielle's guidance has been instrumental in its success."

The Johnson award is named for Joseph A. Johnson III, of Florida A&M University, who was a pioneering and renowned experimental physicist, mentor to Black doctoral students, and a founder of the National Society of Black Physicists (founded at Baltimore's Morgan State University in 1977). The Johnson award recognizes an NSBP experimental physicist who exemplifies his scientific ingenuity and passion for mentorship and service.