Ciara Sivels

Clara Sivels (born 1990) is an American nuclear engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. She was the first black woman to earn a PhD in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan.

Sivels is from Chesapeake, Virginia. She attended Hickory High School. Sivels was originally interested in culinary arts, but took an Advanced Placement class in chemistry and became interested in sciences. She completed her undergraduate studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During her time at MIT, Sivels interned for Teach For America, before considering a career in academic research. Sivels joined the University of Michigan in 2013 for her graduate studies, working on Beta-Gamma coincidence-detectors and nuclear forensics with Sara Pozzi. Her thesis considered nuclear nonproliferation using radioxenon for nuclear explosion monitoring in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. During her graduate studies, Sivels was one of three black women completing their PhD. She engaged with the Detroit Pre-College Engineering Program, supporting high school students from minority backgrounds. In 2018, Sivels was the first black woman to earn a PhD in nuclear engineering at the University of Michigan, considered the top nuclear engineering program in the United States.

Sivels joined Johns Hopkins University in 2018. Her work at the Applied Physics Laboratory is funded through the Department of Defense, and is highly classified.

Sivels is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers.