Mitch Soderberg new spokesperson for ArgoNeuT
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Mitch Soderberg (right) succeeded Bonnie Fleming (left) as spokesperson for ArgoNeuT. |
The institutional board for ArgoNeuT has named Yale postdoctoral researcher Mitch Soderberg successor to Yale scientist Bonnie Fleming as spokesperson for the test experiment.
Fleming hired Soderberg in 2006, about the same time she used a career grant to instigate the ArgoNeuT test.
"He's the obvious candidate," Fleming said. "He's been involved in every aspect of ArgoNeuT. He's really been driving design, construction and operation throughout its history."
ArgoNeuT, which stands for the Argon Neutrino Test project, is a liquid-argon detector used to study low-energy neutrino interactions with unprecedented resolution.
The ArgoNeuT collaboration is one of the smallest at Fermilab, with about 20 members. The detector has been collecting data since May, except for one break to study cosmic rays during the Tevatron's shutdown and another to repair a malfunctioning cryogenic component.
"With a small experiment like this, you get to know everyone on the project," Soderberg said. "When something breaks, there's only a few of you to fix it. It makes you learn a lot of things you never thought you would have to know – like how to fix a cryocooler."
Soderberg also has acted as a mentor to the four graduate students on the test experiment, Fleming said. "He's absolutely an exceptional postdoc," Fleming said. "He has demonstrated the ability to lead."
Fleming now serves as spokesperson for the MicroBooNE experiment, which recently achieved CD-0.
Many ArgoNeuT collaboration members are using their experiences with the test detector to prepare to design and run the new experiment. "A lot of this work will carry over," Soderberg said.
In late February, the ArgoNeuT collaboration will remove the detector from the MINOS tunnel and focus on analysis.
"I'm looking forward to analyzing all the data," Soderberg said. "We have thousands of neutrino interactions recorded that we haven't looked at yet."
— Kathryn Grim
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