Jennifer Raaf
Senior Scientist
Telephone: (630) 840-8044 E-mail: jlraaf@fnal.gov Office Location: WH12E
My research focuses on neutrino detector instrumentation, especially advanced imaging detectors such as gaseous- and liquid-argon time projection chambers. After building expertise in Cherenkov detectors during my PhD and postdoctoral work, I joined Fermilab as a staff scientist in 2011. Since then, I have contributed to the design, construction, and operation of several detectors, including MicroBooNE, LArIAT, and the DUNE ND-LAr 2×2 Demonstrator. I am currently working on DUNE’s liquid-argon-based near detector (ND-LAr). Much of this work involves detector monitoring, control, and operations, where the need for efficient, reliable decision-making naturally lends itself to machine-assisted intelligence; I am increasingly interested in developing tools to improve these systems.
In addition to hands‑on detector development and operations, I enjoy analyzing the complex data produced by these detectors, studying detailed event reconstructions and exploring the subtle features that may signal interesting anomalies such as potential proton decay signatures, or other physics beyond the Standard Model. My work supports Fermilab’s short‑ and long‑baseline neutrino programs and helps strengthen the detector and analysis foundations for our flagship experiment, DUNE.