Dr. Dava Keavney

Program Manager
X-ray and Neutron Scattering Facilities
Office of Basic Energy Sciences
SC-32.3/Germantown Building
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20585-1290

E-Mail: Dava.Keavney@science.doe.gov
Phone: (301) 903-1350
Fax: (301) 903-1690

Dr. Dava Keavney is Program Manager for X-ray Light Sources and Neutron Scattering Facilities in the Scientific User Facilities Division of BES, with a primary responsibility for the five X-ray facilities in BES’ portfolio. She joined the Office of Science in June of 2022.

From 2001 to 2019, she was an instrument scientist at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory. There, she built user communities around magnetic spectroscopy, imaging, and time-resolved techniques in condensed matter physics and materials science, focusing on magnetic materials, multifunctional oxides, and semiconductors. She was also integral to beamline operations, user support, instrument development, and upgrade activities.

In 2019, Dr. Keavney left APS to pursue a two-year Science and Technology Policy Fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, with a placement in the Bureau of Energy Resources of the U.S. Department of State, supporting international efforts to promote diversified supply chains for clean energy minerals and robust standards for greenhouse gas emissions measurement and accounting. Following her fellowship, she joined the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) for one year as a contractor, providing technical and strategic planning support for the AMO leadership team and helping to promote decarbonization, energy efficiency, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions in industry.

Dr. Keavney earned her Ph.D. in experimental condensed matter physics from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, followed by a postdoctoral appointment in Argonne National Laboratory’s Materials Science Division.