Elizabeth Sooby

Profile Information
Name
Dr. Elizabeth Sooby
Institution
University of Texas at San Antonio
Position
Associate Dean for Research
h-Index
19
ORCID
0000-0001-5376-3413
Biography
Dr. Elizabeth Sooby is an Associate Professor in the departments of Physics and Astronomy and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She also serves as the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Sciences. She received a 2022 DOE Early Career Award, the 2023 American Nuclear Society Landis Award, and was honored by the UTSA Presidential Achievement in Research award in 2021 as well as the Presidents Distinguished Award for Advancing Globalization in 2025. Dr. Sooby is an expert in nuclear fuels synthesis and testing, particularly uranium compound fabrication and high temperature thermal analysis and oxidation testing. Prior to coming to UTSA in 2017, Dr. Sooby was appointed as a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory where she also held a Seaborg Postdoctoral Fellowship in Actinide Science following graduation with her Ph.D. in Physics from Texas A&M in December 2014. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Millsaps College in Jackson, MS. She is the principal investigator of the Extreme Environments Materials Laboratory, a unique facility she developed at UTSA over the last 9.5 years, which is a 2,000 square foot radiological laboratory space dedicated to nuclear fuels and structure materials fabrication and testing.
Expertise
Advanced Electron Microscopy, Advanced Fuels, High Temperature Oxidation, Simultaneous Thermal Analysis, Thermophysical Properties, Uranium Alloys, uranium chemistry, Uranium Chloride Molten Salts, Uranium Nitride (UN), Vacuum Arc Remelting (VAR)
Publications:
"ROADRUNNER uranium nitride MiniFuel: Experimental design, fabrication and pre-irradiation baseline characterization for accelerated burnup testing" Denise Adorno Lopes, Annabelle Le Coq, A Schrell, Julian Valdez, P Doyle, Grant Helmreich, R. Heldt, Nathan Capps, Jason Harp, Kory Linton, Joshua White, Elizabeth Sooby, Nuclear Engineering and Design Vol. 454 2026
Presentations:
"High Temperature Steam Oxidation of Additive Manufactured 316L Stainless Steel" Patrick Warren, Scott Schier, Allyssa Batemen, Michelle Voges, Cyana Zaragosa, Elizabeth Sooby, TMS 2024 March 3-7, (2024)
NSUF Articles:
Three Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research Proposals Awarded - Awards total approximately $6.4M Thursday, June 15, 2023 - Calls and Awards