Bethany Kersten
PhD expected 2023
Chemical Engineering
Case Western Reserve University
We are excited to introduce a SWE Future Leader, Bethany Kersten! Bethany has been involved in SWE since she was an undergraduate student at the University of Idaho, where she held positions of secretary, outreach chair, and section president. She planned the “Women in Engineering Day” three years in a row, an outreach program geared towards female high school students from Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. She attended this event as a senior in high school, and it inspired her to pursue chemical engineering at the University of Idaho, and to give back to younger girls when she joined SWE herself. While section president, and for the first time in her section, she helped fully fund members to attend the national conference, which has been a tradition since. She is proud of the Bronze level mission award won by her SWE section.
Bethany’s research topic is electrochemical behavior of actinides in molten salt. Her research is in collaboration with the Argonne National Laboratory, where she conducts ongoing pyroprocessing (spent nuclear fuel reprocessing) research, which requires accurate understanding of electrochemical reactions of actinides and lanthanides in molten salt. She will be studying the electrochemistry of europium and uranium to understand their transport and kinetic behavior.
Bethany’s goal is to work as a researcher at the Argonne National Laboratory and continue to work on spent nuclear fuel reprocessing research, and then transition to a technical advisory role for federal policy decisions involving clean energy, nuclear energy, and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing.
Bethany’s hobbies include hiking, traveling, STEM outreach, hanging out with cats, and photography.
Fun fact: she has driven from the Midwest to Idaho and back 7 times!
Find her on Twitter as @BethanyKersten and on Instagram as @bethany.kersten
PhD expected 2023
Chemical Engineering
Case Western Reserve University
We are excited to introduce a SWE Future Leader, Bethany Kersten! Bethany has been involved in SWE since she was an undergraduate student at the University of Idaho, where she held positions of secretary, outreach chair, and section president. She planned the “Women in Engineering Day” three years in a row, an outreach program geared towards female high school students from Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. She attended this event as a senior in high school, and it inspired her to pursue chemical engineering at the University of Idaho, and to give back to younger girls when she joined SWE herself. While section president, and for the first time in her section, she helped fully fund members to attend the national conference, which has been a tradition since. She is proud of the Bronze level mission award won by her SWE section.
Bethany’s research topic is electrochemical behavior of actinides in molten salt. Her research is in collaboration with the Argonne National Laboratory, where she conducts ongoing pyroprocessing (spent nuclear fuel reprocessing) research, which requires accurate understanding of electrochemical reactions of actinides and lanthanides in molten salt. She will be studying the electrochemistry of europium and uranium to understand their transport and kinetic behavior.
Bethany’s goal is to work as a researcher at the Argonne National Laboratory and continue to work on spent nuclear fuel reprocessing research, and then transition to a technical advisory role for federal policy decisions involving clean energy, nuclear energy, and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing.
Bethany’s hobbies include hiking, traveling, STEM outreach, hanging out with cats, and photography.
Fun fact: she has driven from the Midwest to Idaho and back 7 times!
Find her on Twitter as @BethanyKersten and on Instagram as @bethany.kersten
