Quick Shot

David Turnbull has received the 2023 Thomas H. Stix Award for his outstanding contributions in pioneering experiments on plasma photonics and laser–plasma instability. Demonstrating exceptional scientific leadership, Turnbull has developed into a significant national player in both indirect-drive and direct-drive inertial confinement fusion programs. Turnbull’s prolific publication record of over 50 articles—of them, 18 first-authored papers—includes one in Nature Physics and eight in Physical Review Letters. His work as a graduate student at Princeton University, as a postdoctoral fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and currently as a scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) has been of the highest caliber. At each institution, Turnbull has rapidly obtained high-quality experimental data in scientific environments that range from small single-investigator facilities, such as Janus (LLNL) and the Multi-Terawatt Laser (LLE), to larger multi-investigator facilities, such as the OMEGA Laser System (LLE) and the National Ignition Facility (LLNL).