I study the physical and chemical properties of materials under high pressure and high temperature conditions, to better understand the constitution, structure, and evolution of the Earth's interior. Specifically, I am interested in the distribution of long-lived radioactive elements in the deep Earth and how it affects the heat structure of the planet through time.
Education:
2017 Ph.D., University of Chicago (Geophysical Sciences)
2011 B.S., University of Toledo (Chemistry)
Publications:
Fischer R.A., Campbell A.J., Chidester B.A, et al. (Submitted) Equations of state and phase boundary for stishovite and CaCl2-type SiO2.
Chidester B.A., et al. (In Revision) High pressure phase behavior and equations of state of ThO2 polymorphs.
Boujibar A., Habermann M., Righter K., Driscoll P., Chidester, B. A., et al. (Submitted) Experimental evidence of a radioactive core in Mercury.
Chidester B. A., Rahman Z., Righter K. and Campbell A. J. (2017) Metal–silicate partitioning of U: Implications for the heat budget of the core and evidence for reduced U in the mantle. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta., 199, 1-12. [preprint] [article]
Thompson E. C., Chidester B. A., et al. (2016) Equation of state of pyrite to 85 GPa and 2400 K.
Am. Mineral. 101, 1046-1051. [article]
Chidester B. A. and Strobel T. A. (2011) The ammonia-hydrogen system under pressure, J.
Phys. Chem. A, 115, 10433-10437. [article]
Experience:
| August 2017– | Postdoctoral Appointee | Dynamic Material Properties, Sandia National Laboratories |
| 2012–August 2017 | Graduate Student | Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago |
| 2011–2012 | Laboratory Technician | Department of Chemistry, University of Toledo |
| 2010 | Summer Scholar (REU) | Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington |
| 2009–2011 | Laboratory Technician | Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Toledo |
Honors:
| 2015 | Outstanding Student Paper Award, Mineral and Rock Physics, AGU Fall Meeting |
| 2013–2016 | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow |
| 2011 | Magna cum laude, University of Toledo |
| 2011 | Departmental Physical Chemistry Award, University of Toledo |
| 2009 | SMART Grant, University of Toledo |
| 2007–2011 | Dean's list, University of Toledo |
| 2006–2010 | Lewis J. & Nelle A. Davis Scholarship |
