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Staff Profiles

Dr Jessamyn Fairfield

PhD

Biography

I am a physicist leading research in nanomaterials, physics education, and public engagement with science. I'm originally from the US, and grew up in Los Alamos, home of the atomic bomb.

In addition to research and teaching, I run Bright Club Ireland, the variety night for lateral minds. I also appear frequently on Futureproof, the Newstalk science radio show, and give lots of public talks.

Research Interests

My research team is focused on art/science partnerships, both for public engagement with science and to explore societal challenges using transdisciplinary epistemologies. We use comedy, dance, and other performing arts to communicate science, and have been funded for this work by Science Foundation Ireland and Creative Ireland. We have also explored nanomaterials for novel electronics, and game-based learning, and love to look at interdisciplinary questions that require many different ways of knowing.

Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2022)	'Designing physics board games: a practical guide for educators' Cardinot, A; McCauley, V; Fairfield, JA (2022) 'Designing physics board games: a practical guide for educators'. Physics Education, 57 [Details]
	(2021)	'Alternative Conceptions of Astronomy: How Irish Secondary Students Understand Gravity, Seasons, and the Big Bang' Cardinot, A; Fairfield, JA (2021) 'Alternative Conceptions of Astronomy: How Irish Secondary Students Understand Gravity, Seasons, and the Big Bang'. Eurasia Journal Of Mathematics Science And Technology Education, 17 (4) [Details]
	(2021)	'Developing Science Communication Skills in Early Career Scientists' Schiebel, H; Stone, R; Rivera, EA; Fairfield, JA (2021) 'Developing Science Communication Skills in Early Career Scientists'. Limnology And Oceanography, [Details]
	(2019)	'Bright Club: Establishing a Science Comedy Variety Night in Ireland' Roche, J; Fairfield, JA; Gallagher, A; Bell, L (2019) 'Bright Club: Establishing a Science Comedy Variety Night in Ireland'. Science Communication, [Details]
	(2019)	'Game-based learning to engage students with physics and astronomy using a board game' Cardinot, A; Fairfield, JA (2019) 'Game-based learning to engage students with physics and astronomy using a board game'. International Journal Of Game-Based Learning, 9 (1):42-57 [Details]
	(2017)	'Nanostructured Materials for Neural Electrical Interfaces' Fairfield, JA (2017) 'Nanostructured Materials for Neural Electrical Interfaces'. Advanced Functional Materials, [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	'Co-percolation to tune conductive behaviour in dynamical metallic nanowire networks' Fairfield, JA; Rocha, CG; O'Callaghan, C; Ferreira, MS; Boland, JJ (2016) 'Co-percolation to tune conductive behaviour in dynamical metallic nanowire networks'. Nanoscale, 8 (43):18516-18523 [Details]
	(2016)	'Orientation selectivity in a multi-gated organic electrochemical transistor' Gkoupidenis, P; Koutsouras, DA; Lonjaret, T; Fairfield, JA; Malliaras, GG (2016) 'Orientation selectivity in a multi-gated organic electrochemical transistor'. Scientific Reports, 6 [Details]
	(2016)	'Associative Enhancement of Time Correlated Response to Heterogeneous Stimuli in a Neuromorphic Nanowire Device' O'Kelly, CJ; Fairfield, JA; McCloskey, D; Manning, HG; Donegan, JF; Boland, JJ (2016) 'Associative Enhancement of Time Correlated Response to Heterogeneous Stimuli in a Neuromorphic Nanowire Device'. Advanced Electronic Materials, [Details]
	(2016)	'Quantum point contacts and resistive switching in Ni/NiO nanowire junctions' Oliver, SM; Fairfield, JA; Bellew, AT; Lee, S; Champlain, JG; Ruppalt, LB; Boland, JJ; Vora, PM (2016) 'Quantum point contacts and resistive switching in Ni/NiO nanowire junctions'. Applied Physics Letters, 109 [Details]
	(2015)	'Synaptic plasticity functions in an organic electrochemical transistor' Gkoupidenis, P; Schaefer, N; Strakosas, X; Fairfield, JA; Malliaras, GG (2015) 'Synaptic plasticity functions in an organic electrochemical transistor'. Applied Physics Letters, 107 (26) [Details]
	(2015)	'Quantitative Study of the Photothermal Properties of Metallic Nanowire Networks' Bell, AP; Fairfield, JA; McCarthy, EK; Mills, S; Boland, JJ; Baffou, G; McCloskey, D (2015) 'Quantitative Study of the Photothermal Properties of Metallic Nanowire Networks'. Acs Nano, 9 (5):5551-5558 [Details]
	(2014)	'Programmability of nanowire networks' Bellew, AT; Bell, AP; McCarthy, EK; Fairfield, JA; Boland, JJ (2014) 'Programmability of nanowire networks'. Nanoscale, 6 (16):9632-9639 [Details]
	(2014)	'Effective electrode length enhances electrical activation of nanowire networks: experiment and simulation' Fairfield, JA; Ritter, C; Bellew, AT; McCarthy, EK; Ferreira, MS; Boland, JJ (2014) 'Effective electrode length enhances electrical activation of nanowire networks: experiment and simulation'. Acs Nano, 8 (9):9542-9549 [Details]
	(2014)	'A single nanoscale junction with programmable multilevel memory' O'Kelly, CJ; Fairfield, JA; Boland, JJ (2014) 'A single nanoscale junction with programmable multilevel memory'. Acs Nano, 8 (11):11724-11729 [Details]
	(2012)	'Manipulating connectivity and electrical conductivity in metallic nanowire networks' Nirmalraj, PN; Bellew, AT; Bell, AP; Fairfield, JA; McCarthy, EK; O’Kelly, CJ; Pereira, LFC; Sorel, S; Morosan, D; Coleman, JN; Ferreira, MS; Boland, JJ (2012) 'Manipulating connectivity and electrical conductivity in metallic nanowire networks'. Nano Letters, 12 (11):5966-5971 [Details]
	(2010)	'Characterization of memory and measurement history in photoconductivity of nanocrystal arrays' Fairfield, JA; Dadosh, T; Drndic, M (2010) 'Characterization of memory and measurement history in photoconductivity of nanocrystal arrays'. Applied Physics Letters, 97 (14) [Details]
	(2009)	'Controlling nanogap quantum dot photoconductivity through optoelectronic trap manipulation' Willis, LJ; Fairfield, JA; Dadosh, T; Fischbein, MD; Drndic, M (2009) 'Controlling nanogap quantum dot photoconductivity through optoelectronic trap manipulation'. Nano Letters, 9 (12):4191-4197 [Details]
	(2008)	'Fluorescence dynamics of semiconductor nanorod clusters studied by correlated atomic force, transmission electron, and fluorescence microscopy' Querner, C; Wang, S; Healy, K; Fairfield, JA; Fischbein, MD; Drndic, M (2008) 'Fluorescence dynamics of semiconductor nanorod clusters studied by correlated atomic force, transmission electron, and fluorescence microscopy'. Journal Of Physical Chemistry C, 112 (50):19945-19956 [Details]
	(2007)	'Radiation-tolerant, red-sensitive CCDs for dark energy investigations' Roe, NA; Bebek, CJ; Dawson, KS; Emes, JH; Fabricius, MH; Fairfield, JA; Groom, DE; Holland, SE; Karcher, A; Kolbe, WF; Palaio, NP; Wang, G (2007) 'Radiation-tolerant, red-sensitive CCDs for dark energy investigations'. Nuclear Instruments And Methods In Physics Research A, 572 (1):526-527 [Details]
	(2006)	'Reduced charge diffusion in thick, fully depleted CCDs with enhanced red sensitivity' Fairfield, JA; Groom, DE; Bailey, SJ; Bebek, CJ; Holland, SE; Karcher, A; Kolbe, WF; Lorenzon, W; Roe, NA (2006) 'Reduced charge diffusion in thick, fully depleted CCDs with enhanced red sensitivity'. Ieee Transactions On Nuclear Science, 53 (6):3877-3881 [Details]

Books

	Year	Publication
	(2018)	Nanoelectronics. Fairfield, J (2018) Nanoelectronics. London: IOP Publishing. [Details]

Book Chapters

	Year	Publication
	(2020)	'Neuromorphic Nanoelectronics' Fairfield, JA (2020) 'Neuromorphic Nanoelectronics' In: 21st Century Nanoscience¿A Handbook. :11-1-11-12 Boca Raton, USA: CRC Press. [Details]

Education

Year	Institution	Qualification	Subject
2011	University of Pennsylvania	PhD	Physics
2009	University of Pennsylvania	MASTERS OF SCIENCE	Physics
2005	University of California Berkeley	Bachelor of Arts	Physics & Applied Math

Honours and Awards

Year	Title	Awarding Body
2018	President's Award for Societal Impact	NUI Galway
2017	Mary Somerville Medal and Prize	Institute of Physics
2013	The Early Career Physics Communicator Award	Institute of Physics

Community Engagement

Title	Type	From / To
Outreach	We Built This City on Rock and Coal	30-APR-23 /
Outreach	CONDUIT	01-JAN-22 / 30-JUN-23
Outreach	Soapbox Science	01-JAN-17 / 01-JUL-20
Outreach	NanoDance	01-JAN-18 / 31-DEC-18
Outreach	Bright Club	01-FEB-15 /