Valerie Izzo

Dr. Izzo performs 3D nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic simulations of magnetically confined fusion plasmas. In the past, she has modeled a novel current drive scheme for compact fusion plasmas and tokamak plasma response to resonant magnetic perturbations. Her present work is focused on disruptions in tokamak plasmas, including rapid shutdown scenarios by massive impurity injection, as well as runaway electron confinement on stochastic magnetic fields.

Dr. Izzo recieved her Ph.D. in plasma physics from the University of Washington in 2004. She spent two years as an ORISE postdoctoral fellow working at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center in Cambridge, MA. She joined the Center for Energy Research at UCSD in 2006, and is resident at General Atomics, working in the Theory and Computational Science Division.