Dr. Okuniewski has been at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for the past seven years as a research and development scientist and engineer. The over-arching goals of her research are focused on understanding the connections between the microstructure of nuclear materials and fuels and their mechanical properties. She studies changes in microstructure as a function of radiation damage and/or fabrication and processing of real-world nuclear systems. During her time at INL she served as an adjunct faculty at Idaho State in developing courses on Advanced Materials for Nuclear Applications.  She's been recognized with awards from the Department of Energy, and has published 20 peer reviewed journal papers.  She will continue her work in the area of materials for nuclear applications, and the effects of radiation damage on a wide range of materials.  She'll be joining the School in January 2016.