Susannah Dorfman

Susannah Dorfman simulates the conditions inside Earth and other planets using experiments in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell at high pressures (up to 2.5 Mbar) and temperatures (up to 6000 K). She is interested in the effects of these extreme conditions on phase equilibria and physical properties of planetary materials including mantle silicates and carbonates. Her laboratory probes crystal structures and compositions in situ using synchrotron diffraction and spectroscopy and ex situ using electron microscopy techniques.

Dr. Dorfman's research on characterization of phase transitions using scattering methods at high pressures has strong overlap with the interests of several faculty in the PA Condensed Matter Physics group.

Susannah comes to MSU after working as a postdoctoral scientist in the Institute of Condensed Matter Physics at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne) in Switzerland. She received degrees from Princeton University (Ph.D. 2012, M.S. 2008) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (S.B. 2005).