Posted on September 26, 2025 by College of Sciences
#StaffSpotlight
Elizabeth Sooby, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research, College of Sciences Office of the Dean
What did your journey to UTSA look like?
I applied to a tenure track posting in Physics and Astronomy. At the time I was a Staff Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory where I also completed a Glenn T Seaborg Postdoctoral Fellowship in Actinide Science. Prior to my time at LANL, I was at Texas A&M where I received my PhD in Physics in 2014. What interested me the most about the Physics position was the department's interest in growing their capabilities in experimental materials science. Being a PhD'd Physicist with a research interest in nuclear materials, particularly uranium chemistry, I thought it would be a great opportunity to teach the classes I love in the Physics Department while continuing to pursue my research interests in nuclear materials science. I guess the department felt the same way, as I started as an Assistant Professor in the Fall 2017.
What do you enjoy most about your area of study?
I have always enjoyed the challenge of working with uranium. The experimental design involved is a complicated puzzle to test a hypothesis while accounting for and mitigating the hazards associated with radiological materials. As an experimentalist, I find it incredibly satisfying to develop new techniques with my students and see how our bench top experiments produce results that are novel and scientifically interesting while also highly relevant to the broader industry.
What are some of the most notable research projects that you've been involved in?
One of my favorites, which is still on going, is a collaboration with the University of Manchester in the U.K. This international collaboration, which I lead at principal investigator, is funded from both the U.S. Department of Energy and the United Kingdom. We applied to the joint program with collaborators in U.K. after over two years of discussion on why similar experiments from both our lab, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Boise State University, and the University of Manchester produced very different results. Since this was awarded in 2022, we've learned a great deal about how our uranium feedstocks differ as well as some of our testing parameters, and how those small differences lead to varied performance in benchtop accident testing. It's been a lot of fun to work with the international team, and we've really enjoyed working together on this complex problem while engaging students from both the U.S. and the U.K. Typically, the facilities involved: The University of Texas at San Antonio, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Boise State, and the University of Manchester would be seen as competitors in this field since we work on similar problems–through this collaboration we've enjoyed working with our favorite colleagues to solve problems very specific to our own science–showing that collaboration and sharing of information leads to solving some of the biggest challenges.
What is your proudest moment with the College of Sciences?
It would have to be when we reached R1 status. A lot of work went into that from the university and at the COS level, we're the largest player in many of the research metrics that had to be met.
Describe your new leadership role and how it will help support students, faculty, and/or staff in COS
I'm excited for this new role to support faculty and the college with its research mission. In this role I see myself as an advocate for our COS faculty and research support staff to help improve some of our internal process for research administration while helping our COS faculty build new collaborations and seek new sources of research funding.
What are you most looking forward to in this new role?
Learning about all the great research going on in COS and building new collaborations within our college as well as with other University of Texas at San Antonio colleges as well as UT Health San Antonio.
How would you spend your ideal Saturday?
My favorite Saturdays start with coaching my daughter's soccer team (on ideal Saturdays, we win 😊), then grabbing lunch with our family friends. The best days are when that lunch turns into hanging out all day and letting the kids play while we parents catch up over snacks and football.
What are your book recommendations?
Lessons in Chemistry, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, pretty much anything Dan Brown has written, and a must read for our nerds out there: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynmann.
— College of Sciences
