To get to work some days, Dr. Jodi Cooley must put on full mining gear, ride an industrial elevator 1.2 miles underground, walk a half a mile through a working nickel mine, take a shower, and change all of her clothing so she doesnβt contaminate the clean lab.
Itβs an unusual commute, but then, Cooley has an unusual job. Sheβs the executive director of , an enormous underground research facility in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. There, scientists from around the world work on experiments that will help us better understand the building blocks of the universe.
βI work with people who are motivated by the fact that what they do is really awesome, that theyβre working with people who are leaders in the world for the type of research they do, and theyβre trying to do things people have never done before,β Cooley said.
As the , Cooley is responsible for guiding a staff of 131 employees, plus visiting scientists, to fulfill the institutionβs vision: βTo be a leading laboratory in deep underground science, hosting the worldβs most advanced experiments that provide insight into the nature of the universe,β she explained.
That means she works with the Canadian and Ontario governments to secure funding and resources for SNOLAB. She coordinates international teams of scientists who want to perform experiments in SNOLABβs underground lab spaces. She works with the scientific community to make researchers aware of the labβs capabilities, and sheβs responsible for the health and safety of each employee who works in the facility.
The lab in the mine
SNOLAB is located in Creighton Mine, a working nickel mine operated by Vale Limited; the facility is in a now-depleted area of the mine away from regular operations. Itβs a major research facility in Canada, much the same way Fermilab or Argonne National Laboratory are in the United States. And itβs enormous.
βThe square footage of the floor space is 5,000 meters squared, but that doesnβt tell you the whole story of the lab. Itβs the volume you want to think about,β she said. SNOLAB boasts three large underground caverns in which scientists do experiments; the biggest is as tall as a 10-story building and the other two arenβt far behind. SNOLAB also boasts a chemistry wet lab and assembly space on surface, along with modern offices, meeting spaces and an auditorium.
Being deep underground means that SNOLABβs clean rooms are shielded from the everyday background radiation on the Earthβs surface. This shielding from cosmic rays is essential to detecting extremely rare subatomic particle interactions that is the core of SNOLAB βs research program.
Scientists β either those employed at SNOLAB, or those who are visiting to perform their experiments β are conducting research in some interesting areas.
The lab currently has 24 experiments in various stages of development. Some explore the nature of a subatomic particle called neutrinos; others examine the effects of varying radiation levels on biological matter; some explore quantum computing. But most of the experiments revolve around dark matter. Thatβs Cooleyβs particular area of expertise.
is a unique type of particle because scientists canβt see it, even though theyβve found evidence that it exists.
βThe fact that the Milky Way galaxy is rotating and the stars at the edge of the galaxy, including ourselves, are not flying off into outer space, is because there are some particles there that are providing extra gravity that act like the glue that keep us rotating around the black hole at the center of our galaxy,β Cooley explained. βWe know (dark matter is) there, but itβs not luminous. We canβt see it with our eye. We canβt detect it even with our x-ray telescopes. β¦ Weβve only been able to observe it through the effect its gravity has.β
Being a part of this innovative research is exciting because the discoveries made at SNOLAB may help reveal some of the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Cooley said the labβs work has captured the interests of not only scientists, but the Canadian government as well: Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is rumored to want to visit SNOLAB because βheβs a big science geek,β Cooley joked.
51ΑΤΖζ paved the way
Cooley loves working with the dedicated scientists and staff at SNOLAB, but her favorite part of the job is getting to learn about and advocate for so many fascinating areas of science. Cooley loves to learn. Itβs why she couldnβt make up her mind when she was attending 51ΑΤΖζ. She tried five different majors and was in her fifth year of college before she found her feet in the Physics Department.
βI started hanging out with more physicists. I was like, you know what? This seems kind of fun. I think I might want to go to graduate school for physics,β Cooley recalled.
And she did. As she majored in applied mathematics and physics at 51ΑΤΖζ, Cooley did research on rapidly rotating neutron stars under the mentorship of Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) John Friedman, and then attended 51ΑΤΖζadison to earn a PhD in astrophysics. Her research focused on a project called AMANDA β the Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array.
βAnd yes, I have been to the South Pole,β Cooley laughed.
She held postdoctoral positions at MIT and Stanford before landing a faculty position at Southern Methodist University, where she taught for 13 years before taking over as the director of SNOLAB last year. She credits 51ΑΤΖζ for encouraging her love of learning and for giving her the leadership skills she uses each day.
βWhen I look back at my time at 51ΑΤΖζ, I canβt tell you how much it meant to me,β Cooley said. βIf I had gone to another school β¦ I donβt think I would be where Iβm at today.β
Thatβs underground, in a mine, at a laboratory on the cutting edge of physics discoveries.