H. M. Wakeling

H. M. Wakeling

Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Particle Accelerator Environmental Sustainability

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A list of all the posts and pages found on the site. For you robots out there is an XML version available for digesting as well.

Pages

Posts

Thoughts on the 3$^\mathrm{rd}$ Edition of the Sustainable High Energy Physics Workshop 2024

4 minute read

Published:

As one of the organizers for the 3rd edition of the Sustainable High-Energy Physics (HEP) Workshop 2024, I am thrilled to share the journey and outcomes of this incredible event. Hosted online from June 10th to June 12th, 2024, the workshop aimed to bridge the gap between high-energy physics and environmental sustainability, fostering discussions and initiatives that pave the way for a greener future in scientific research.

Exploring the Sustainability Efforts of Europe’s Facilities

4 minute read

Published:

In the last two weeks of January, I had the privilege of visiting multiple particle accelerator facilities across Europe as part of my work with ISIS-II at STFC. The aim of this was to develop connections, exchange ideas, and investigate the potential for collaboration. As a postdoctoral researcher specializing in particle accelerator environmental sustainability, I often find myself positively overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work occurring around the world to reduce the environmental impact of particle accelerators. The last two weeks have not been an exception.

A quantative evaluation of my Ph.D.

1 minute read

Published:

Throughout my Ph.D. I kept track of some numbers as I progressed. This was mainly inadvertantly, but at one point it became a fun project.

portfolio

publications

Measurement of the semileptonic ${B}^0$ to $D^{*}$ $ll$ $ u$$_{ll}$ branching fraction with fully reconstructed $B$ meson decays and 34.6 fb$^{-1}$ of Belle II data.

Published in ArXiv, 2020

One of the primary authors of the “Measurement of the semileptonic $\bar{B}^0 \rightarrow D^{*+} \ell^{-} \nu_{\ell}$ branching fraction with fully reconstructed $B$ meson decays and 34.6 fb$^{-1}$ of Belle II data”: https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.10299 accompanied with internal Belle II documents (not available to the public).

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Diversity and inclusion activities in Belle II

Published in ArXiv, 2021

These proceedings accompany the Belle II talk in the Diversity and Inclusion parallel session delivered during ICHEP 2020. This marks the first external presentation by the Belle II Collaboration, in which we present some of our data and self-reported statistics regarding diversity and inclusion. We also present Belle II’s current and planned activities to aid and improve diversity and inclusion. We find that there is still a lot to be done to improve the social working environment and population representation within our collaboration and within high energy physics.

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Diversity and Inclusion at Belle II: Where We Are, What We’ve Done and Where We Want To Be

Published in ArXiv, 2021

The Belle II Collaboration comprises over 1000 international high energy physicists, who investigate the properties of b-quarks and other particles at the luminosity frontier. In order to achieve our aim of a successful physics program, it is essential that we emphasise contributions from a diverse community. Belle II has thus far focused on diversity in gender and sexuality, among other efforts within our collaboration. These efforts are led by our two Diversity Officers, elected to the newly created positions in 2018. Their role has been to promote an inclusive atmosphere, raising awareness of diversity and being a safe first point of call for issues of discrimination and harassment. These proceedings accompany the short talk delivered during ICHEP 2020, marking the first conference the Belle II Collaboration has presented in the diversity and inclusion stream. It details the efforts described above, as well as examining the evolving gender demographics of our community, since membership began in 2011.

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Diversity and inclusion activities in Belle II (2022 update)

Published in ArXiv, 2022

These proceedings accompany the Belle II talk in the Science in Society parallel session delivered during Lepton Photon 2021. In this talk we present updated membership statistics using 10 years of data with a diversity and inclusion lens, and we present Belle II’s most recent activities to aid and improve diversity and inclusion. This report has the intention to bring light to the social working environment and population representation within our collaboration and, by extension, within high energy physics. Belle II is a particle physics collaboration that has over 1000 people from institutions in 26 countries who work together to achieve its physics goals. Belle II is committed to fostering an open, diverse, and inclusive environment; as part of this commitment it created a diversity office to raise awareness of diversity and inclusion issues, promote an inclusive atmosphere within the collaboration, provide a safe and confidential point to contact for collaborators to report any issues, particularly those related to discrimination and harassment, and ensure that persons from underrepresented groups are considered for positions of responsibility within the collaboration. Diversity and inclusion activities and initiatives at Belle II and analysis of the demographics of the collaboration will be presented.

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Environmental sustainability in basic research: a perspective from HECAP+

Published in ArXiv, 2023

The climate crisis and the degradation of the world’s ecosystems require humanity to take immediate action. The international scientific community has a responsibility to limit the negative environmental impacts of basic research. The HECAP+ communities (High Energy Physics, Cosmology, Astroparticle Physics, and Hadron and Nuclear Physics) make use of common and similar experimental infrastructure, such as accelerators and observatories, and rely similarly on the processing of big data. Our communities therefore face similar challenges to improving the sustainability of our research. This document aims to reflect on the environmental impacts of our work practices and research infrastructure, to highlight best practice, to make recommendations for positive changes, and to identify the opportunities and challenges that such changes present for wider aspects of social responsibility.

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A life cycle assessment of the ISIS-II neutron and muon source

Published in ArXiv, 2024

The ISIS-II Neutron and Muon source is the proposed next generation of, and successor to, the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom. Anticipated to start construction in 2031, the ISIS-II project presents a unique opportunity to incorporate environmental sustainability practices from its inception. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will examine the environmental impacts associated with each of the ISIS-II design options across the stages of the ISIS-II lifecycle, encompassing construction, operation, and eventual decommissioning. This proactive approach will assess all potential areas of environmental impact and seek to identify strategies for minimizing and mitigating negative impacts, wherever feasible. This presentation will provide insights into the process and first results of the LCA of the entirety of the ISIS-II project.

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Test of lepton flavor universality with a measurement of $R$($D^{(∗)}$) using hadronic $B$ tagging at the Belle II experiment

Published in Physical Review D, 2024

The ratio of branching fractions $R(D^{(∗)})$=$\mathcal{B}\((B^- \rightarrow D^* \tau^- \bar{\nu}_\tau)/\)\mathcal{B}$$(B^- \rightarrow D^* \ell^- \bar{\nu}\ell)$, where $\ell$ is an electron or muon, is measured using a Belle II data sample with an integrated luminosity of 189 fb$^{-1}$ at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+ e^-$ collider. Data is collected at the $\Upsilon$(4S) resonance, and one B meson in the $\Upsilon$(4S)$\rightarrow B \bar{B}$ decay is fully reconstructed in hadronic decay modes. The accompanying signal B meson is reconstructed as $B^-\rightarrow D^* \tau^- \bar{\nu}\tau$ using leptonic $\tau$ decays. The normalization decay, $B^-\rightarrow D^* l^- \bar{\nu}l$, produces the same observable final-state particles. The ratio of branching fractions is extracted in a simultaneous fit to two signal-discriminating variables in both channels and yields $R(D^{(∗)})=0.262{-0.039}^{+0.041}$(stat)$_{-0.032}^{+0.035}$(syst). This result is consistent with the current world average and with Standard Model predictions.

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The international workshop on Sustainable HEP

Published in PoS ICHEP2024, 2024

The “Workshop on Sustainable High Energy Physics” was first held in 2021 as an international initiative to promote sustainability awareness within the physics community. This workshop series has been organised by early and mid-career researchers and conducted as a virtual three-day event in the years 2021, 2022, and 2024. This proceeding will highlight key take-away points from the third edition of the workshop held in 2024 (indico.cern.ch/e/susthep24), featuring keynote lectures and contributed talks that encompass a diverse range of topics in high-energy physics. The goal of the workshop was to focus on the long-term environmental impacts of research facilities, computing, and the challenges faced by researchers and institutions, while also offering a platform for proposed solutions to tackle climate change.

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Updated results of a life cycle assessment of the ISIS-II Neutron and Muon Source

Published in PoS ICHEP2024, 2024

The ISIS-II Neutron and Muon Source is the proposed next generation of, and successor to, the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom. Anticipated to start construction in 2032, the ISIS-II project presents a unique opportunity to incorporate environmental sustainability practices from its inception.A (simplified) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will examine the environmental impacts associated with each of the ISIS-II design options across the stages of the ISIS-II lifecycle, encompassing construction, operation, and eventual decommissioning. This proactive approach will assess all potential areas of environmental impact and seek to identify strategies for minimizing and mitigating negative impacts, wherever feasible. This talk will provide insights into the motivation, methodology, and first results of the environmental impact and LCA of the entirety of the ISIS-II project.

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High-level environmental sustainability guidelines for large accelerator facilities

Published in ArXiv, 2025

The proposed construction of new particle accelerator-based facilities in the coming decades – and upgrades to existing facilities – provides the unique opportunity to embed innovative environmental impact reduction techniques into their design. This living document provides high-level guidelines to improve environmental sustainability in the planning, construction, operational and decommissioning stages of large accelerator facilities. A collection of various resources is provided, with examples of some existing and suggested practices.

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Sustainability Assessment of Future Accelerators

Published in ArXiv, 2025

The Large Particle Physics Laboratory Directors Group (LDG) established the Working Group on the Sustainability Assessment of Future Accelerators in 2024 with the mandate to develop guidelines and a list of key parameters for the assessment of the sustainability of future accelerators in particle physics. While focused on accelerator projects, much of the work will also be relevant to other current and future Research Infrastructures. The development and continuous update of such a framework aim to enable a coherent communication amongst scientists and adequately convey the information to a broader set of stakeholders. This document outlines the major findings and recommendations from the LDG Sustainability WG report - a summary of current best practices recommended to be adopted by new Research Infrastructures. The full report will be available in June 2025 at: this https URL. Not all of sustainability topics are addressed at the same level. The assessment process is complex, largely under development and a homogeneous evaluation of all the aspects deserves a strategy to be pursued over time.

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Environmental sustainability in basic research. A perspective from HECAP+

Published in JINST, 2025

The climate crisis and the degradation of the world’s ecosystems require humanity to take immediate action. The international scientific community has a responsibility to limit the negative environmental impacts of basic research. The HECAP+ communities (High Energy Physics, Cosmology, Astroparticle Physics, and Hadron and Nuclear Physics) make use of common and similar experimental infrastructure, such as accelerators and observatories, and rely similarly on the processing of big data. Our communities therefore face similar challenges to improving the sustainability of our research. This document aims to reflect on the environmental impacts of our work practices and research infrastructure, to highlight best practice, to make recommendations for positive changes, and to identify the opportunities and challenges that such changes present for wider aspects of social responsibility.

Download here

Early Career Researcher Input to the European Strategy for Particle Physics Update: White Paper

Published in ArXiv, 2025

This document, written by early career researchers (ECRs) in particle physics, aims to represent the perspectives of the European ECR community and serves as input for the 2025–2026 update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics. With input from a community-wide survey, it highlights key challenges faced by ECRs – career stability, funding access and long-term research opportunities – while proposing policy recommendations and targeted initiatives. It underscores the importance of practices fostering diverse, equitable, inclusive and healthy workplaces, as well as of stronger ECR communities, and highlights how effective communication and interdisciplinary collaborations reinforce the societal relevance of particle physics and promote continued support for large-scale and long-term projects. Finally, the future of both collider and beyond-collider experiments is addressed, emphasising the critical role of ECRs in shaping future projects. The ECR contribution is formed of two parts: the ten-page executive summary submitted as input to the European Strategy for Particle Physics Update and, as backup document, this extended white paper providing additional context.

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Input to European Strategy Update for Particle Physics: Sustainability

Published in ArXiv, 2025

Human activity continues to have an enormous negative impact on the ability of the planet to sustain human and other forms of life. Six out of the nine planetary boundaries have been crossed, a seventh is close to threshold. Prominent manifestations of this development are climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions, as well as loss of biodiversity. In recognition of the urgency of these problems, several international agreements have been ratified to achieve net-zero emissions and to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Significant reductions in emissions are required by 2030 to meet international climate targets. The field of particle physics has an obligation and an opportunity to contribute to such mitigation efforts and to avoid causing further harm. This document urges the European Strategy Update in Particle Physics to set a clear and bold mandate for embedding environmental sustainability throughout the future scientific programme, and advocates for a series of actions that will enable this.

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talks

Accelerating Sustainability

Published:

Particle accelerators are vital for medical applications, scientific discovery and technological development, but they generally come with significant environmental impacts. As the climate crisis intensifies, can we design and operate accelerators with greater environmental responsibility? Can this be achieved without hindering scientific progress — and could accelerators even help address some environmental challenges?

Particle Accelerator Environmental Sustainability

Published:

How do particle accelerators intersect with the climate crisis, and why we should we care? Is it possible to design and operate accelerators more sustainably without hindering scientific progress? This talk will explore these questions, focusing on how — as the climate crisis intensifies — researchers are evaluating, reducing and mitigating these impacts through innovative and exciting approaches.

teaching

PHYS350 Electromagnetism

Teaching Assistantship, McGill, Physics, 2018

PHYS350 Electromagnetism responsibilities:

  • Marking and LaTex homework solutions
  • Office Hours

PHYS232 Heat & Waves

Teaching Assistantship, McGill, Physics, 2019

PHYS232 Heat & Waves responsibilities:

  • Marking and LaTex homework solutions
  • Office hours

3rd Year Nuclear Labs

Demonstrator, Oxford, Physics, 2023

A demonstrator for nuclear physics labs at Oxford for 3rd year physics students.