Background

James obtained his undergraduate degree in Physics from Western Michigan University in 2003, a master’s in science from Ball State University in 2005, and his PhD from the University of Notre Dame (ND) in 2011. After holding a postdoctoral position at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics at the University of Notre Dame from 2012 to 2016, he became assistant research professor at the Nuclear Science Laboratory at ND. Since 2022, he has been an associate research professor at the ND Nuclear Science Laboratory.

Research Interests

James’ main research centers around the study of low energy nuclear reactions that pertain to the modeling of nucleosynthesis. More recently his research has also expanded to reactions relevant for nuclear applications such as nuclear safeguards, non-destructive assay, emergency response, reactors and fuels, and actinide-based neutron sources. James mainly focuses on the interpretation of nuclear data, usually through the lens of a nuclear reaction model called R-matrix. He maintains an R-matrix code called AZURE2, which is used by the nuclear physics community, and organizes workshop series and various schools to educate researchers in its use.

Research Networks

James is a member of the International Research Network for Nuclear Astrophysics (IReNA) doing research that most commonly falls under Focas Area 1.