Mark Spieker

Mark Spieker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Florida State University (FSU), where he joined in October 2019 after serving as an NSCL Fellow at Michigan State University. His research program focuses on experimental nuclear physics with direct applications to nuclear astrophysics, utilizing facilities including the John D. Fox Laboratory and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB).

Education:

• Dr. rer. nat. (PhD equivalent) in Experimental Physics, University of Cologne, Germany (2017)

Research Interests: Dr. Spieker investigates nuclear structure phenomena influencing stellar nucleosynthesis, with emphasis on the Pygmy Dipole Resonance, alpha clustering in rare-earth nuclei, and fission dynamics. His group employs particle-gamma coincidence techniques using the Super-Enge Split-Pole Spectrograph (SE-SPS) and the CeBrA gamma-ray array to study excited nuclear states relevant to explosive astrophysical scenarios like neutron-star mergers.

Scientific Awards:

• NSCL Fellow at Michigan State University (2017-2019)
• FRIB Visiting Scholar Award for Experimental Science (2020)

Advising and Grants: He actively mentors 5 current students (3 graduate, 2 undergraduate) and has supervised 4 past students to completion. His research is funded by three NSF grants (PHY-2012522, PHY-2412808, PHY-2405485) supporting nuclear structure/astrophysics studies and detector development, plus a DOE/NNSA grant (DE-NA0004150) under the CENTAUR program for nuclear security research.

Laboratories and Teams: Dr. Spieker leads the SE-SPS program at FSU's John D. Fox Laboratory, developing advanced detectors including the CeBrA gamma array and a new M-THGEM-based focal-plane detector. He chairs the GRETINA-GRETA User Executive Committee and collaborates extensively with FRIB, with future work centered on rare-isotope beam experiments at the new facility.