Kim Kearfott is a board-certified radiation safety specialist at both the practitioner (NRRPT) and professional (CHP) levels. She is a tenured full Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at University of Michigan with a Doctor of Science degree from M.I.T. with a doctoral minor from Harvard School of Public Health (nuclear medicine imaging, medical physics, radiation biology). She also earned a Master of Engineering degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Virginia in nuclear reactor safety. Professor Kearfott received National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator, Society of Nuclear Medicine Tetalman, Health Physics Society Elda Anderson, and American Nuclear Society Women’s Achievement and Rockwell Lifetime Achievement awards. She is a Fellow of the Health Physics Society (the primary scientific organization of radiation protection specialists in the United States) and a Distinguished Member of the American Academy of Health Physics (the board certification group for radiation protection professionals). She has served on the national board of directors of both the American Nuclear Society and the Health Physics Society. She completed training in the first class of FEMA Radiological Operations Support Specialists (ROSS).
Kim Kearfott has more than four decades of research and applied experience in radiation detection and radiological safety. She began her career in reactor safety analysis. She then became known for her early work on internal dose assessments for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and for her designs of clinical PET facilities. She performed pioneering work in radon: discovering and mitigating the highest ever recorded domestic indoor radon air concentration. She has conducted projects in the personnel radiation monitoring, external dosimetry, and internal dose assessment. Her current research is the design of radiation detection systems for environmental radiation, homeland security, and nuclear weapons verification. Dr. Kearfott maintains an interest in measurement systems of all types, including the detection of conventional explosives. She holds several patents on radiation detection methods and detectors. Dr. Kearfott has supervised ~493 graduate and undergraduate student research projects, resulting in ~601 publications. An experienced teacher, Prof. Kearfott has presented ~250 technical talks, 87 formal undergraduate and graduate courses, and 37 short courses.