Giselle Fernández

June 24, 2025

What do you like about your job and/or about working at the Lab?

I appreciate the immense space for creativity and innovation here, as well as the significant impact of our work. I also value the multidisciplinary nature of the Lab, allowing me to engage in materials science, atmospheric science, and inertial fusion energy applications.

What do your day-to-day work activities include?

I typically spend around three hours each day responding to emails, one hour preparing presentations, two hours in meetings, and three hours conducting research.

What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?

I'm proud of my work on the Low Yield Nuclear Monitoring Project, a large research effort across three Labs aimed at detecting signals from small, hard-to-detect nuclear tests. I developed deep learning models to track how particles spread in the atmosphere, and we were able to publish our findings in Nature.

What is your educational/career background?

I completed my B.S. in nuclear engineering at the Balseiro Institute in Argentina in 2014, followed by an M.Sc. in mechanical engineering in 2016, and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Florida in 2018. In 2024, I earned my M.B.A. from the University of Arizona. My work primarily focuses on applications in machine learning, deep learning, sensitivity analysis, inverse modeling, multidisciplinary optimization, and uncertainty quantification.

What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?

Since I was a kid, I’ve always been curious about how things work. I had so much fun tackling math and physics problems, and now I’m passionate about using those skills in meaningful missions like the ones we have at the Lab.

What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?

Give your best and have fun! :)

What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?

My hobbies include watching TV, reading murder mysteries, playing adventure/RPG video games, tennis, weightlifting, and running (ran the San Francisco Marathon last year).

Are you a member of any employee networking groups?

Tennis and Table Tennis

Where are you from?

Argentina

Do you support disciplines or programs outside PLS?

Global Security, Weapons and Complex Integration, and National Ignition Facility & Photon Science.