Recently on the Taking Measure blog, we asked Tara Lovestead, a recipient of the 2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), a few questions about her life and work. She was recognized for her extensive application of new methods to rapidly and inexpensively detect trace levels of chemicals in vapors, enabling advances in homeland security, forensics, and food safety.

What brought you to NIST?

After I finished my bachelor’s degree in nutrition at Virginia Tech, I attended the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder for both my master’s and Ph.D. in chemical engineering. My research focused on ultraviolet (UV) light-curable cross-linking polymer kinetics—a fancy way of saying I studied things like how dental fillings harden under UV light.

Upon finishing my Ph.D., I accepted my first postdoctoral position at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The experience was wonderful and helped me see that my skills were transferable to new areas like designing polymer materials for lubricating artificial joints.

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