As Pantex’s first-ever researcher in residence, Wendy Galvan is growing into her own as a scientist while sharing her professional experience with students.
Before starting her chemistry doctorate at Texas Tech University’s Graduate School, Wendy Galvan found herself at a bit of a crossroads.
Galvan began working as a cooperative development scientist at the Pantex Plant after graduating with her bachelor’s degree. Pantex is the U.S.’s primary facility for the assembly and disassembly of nuclear weapons, located just outside Amarillo, Texas.
She loved the work and being in the lab. There was something about precisely following the necessary steps to complete an experiment that just captured Galvan’s attention.
She enjoyed working with her team at Pantex, too. She worked in a supportive and familial environment. She knew her colleagues wanted to see her succeed as much as she wanted to see it for herself.
Still, Galvan felt incomplete. She could run the experiments, but she wanted a deeper understanding of the synthesis and analysis processes and the materials used.
Galvan talked with her manager and expressed a desire to return to school and earn her doctorate. She thought she might have to put work on hold. Her manager had another idea.
She could be the plant’s first-ever researcher in residence, working full-time at the plant while pursuing her doctorate degree.
“I thought that sounded like a lot of work,” Galvan said, laughing. “It was scary. I spent at least two or three months debating whether I should take this opportunity.”
Not even two semesters into her doctoral program, Galvan cannot imagine being anywhere else, broadening her understanding of synthesizing and analyzing polymeric materials while serving as a point of connection between Pantex and Texas Tech students.
Lab Rat
Galvan grew up in Booker, Texas, a small town at the top right corner of the panhandle. She opted to attend West Texas A&M University for her undergraduate degree, which allowed her to stay close to her mother and three older siblings.
“I had a really great professor, and he’s actually my coworker at Pantex now,” she said. “I loved the way he taught and just his energy about organic chemistry. I know everyone says that’s the hardest class, but I ended up falling in love with it.”
Galvan shifted her major from biology to biochemistry after taking an organic chemistry course her second year. There may not be a course more infamous to science majors across the country than the first organic chemistry course. The challenging material introduces students to the study of structure, properties, compositions, reactions and syntheses of carbon-containing compounds.
“I had a really great professor, and he’s actually my coworker at Pantex now,” she said. “I loved the way he taught and just his energy about organic chemistry. I was like, ‘You know, this stuff is really cool.’ I know everyone says that’s the hardest class, but I ended up falling in love with it.”
She was later accepted into the McNair Scholars Program that prepares first-generation and low-income students for doctoral studies through research opportunities and other scholarly activities.
It was through the McNair Scholars Program that Galvan realized how much she enjoyed conducting and communicating research. She experienced hands-on laboratory research, writing reports and presenting her findings at symposiums and conferences.
“My mentor had me doing a simple synthetic protocol, which is what I typically do now, but it was on a smaller scale,” she said. “I really fell in love with being in the lab and presenting the work I’d done.”
For those who have never been in a lab, Galvan likens the work to cooking in the kitchen.
“When you say synthesizing, you’re basically just cooking, whether it’s a polymer or other materials of interest,” Galvan explained. “To me, you’re just following a recipe. Sometimes it works, but unfortunately there are a lot of reactions that don’t. But the fun part is getting together as a team and answering questions like, ‘What are we doing wrong or what can we change? How do we troubleshoot this?’”
Galvan eventually secured the cooperative development scientist position at Pantex and turned that into a full-time job in August 2025; though, she admits she was unsure what work she could do with a bachelor’s degree focused on organic chemistry.
It did not take her long to see the vast role that organic chemistry plays at a place like Pantex. Concepts from her textbooks that she had a familiarity with began to take on new life with each passing experiment. Whereas her lab work during the McNair Scholars Program featured a one-step protocol, now she was completing more complex experiments that often had four or five steps and required more instrumentation for a complete analysis.
Galvan was not just satisfied with more complex experiments, though. She needed to have a deeper understanding about chemical synthesis and analysis. She needed to know why certain materials were desired for experiments.
She did not want to be a cook just following a recipe; she needed to understand why ingredients, equipment or techniques were required.
These needs led her to the conversation about graduate school with her manager and eventually attending Texas Tech.
Researcher in Residence
Galvan talks about her work as Pantex’s first researcher in residence with an inspiring energy. She gains total fulfillment from her role: as a professional, as a researcher and as an individual trying to connect with students.
That intense level of fulfillment is often what sustains her through busy, 10- to 12-hour days. She often starts around 7 a.m., completing work for Pantex that includes checking emails, responding to messages and attending virtual meetings. On lab-heavy days, she may work from around 8 a.m. to 4 or 8 p.m., synthesizing materials, working on tasks for Joshua Tropp – assistant professor and her faculty mentor and principal investigator – or reading an array of research publications. She also attends graduate courses and completes any necessary projects. On top of all that, she meets monthly with her Pantex manager.
“It really differs from day to day,” she said. “I’m in the lab every day and most of the time on the weekends as well. I absolutely love it.”
Galvan is careful when describing her research given the national security implications at Pantex. What she can say is that her research is in energetic materials, a technical term for chemical substances that contain high amounts of stored chemical energy such as explosives and propellants.
She has two subcontracts for Pantex that she is working on at Texas Tech. The first is looking at recovering and recycling a binder that is important for Pantex’s high-explosives mission. The second project investigates a new way to synthesize materials that incorporate microwave heating and continuous flow to improve throughput, safety and quality.
Galvan wanted to work under Tropp’s tutelage because of his specific research background in polymer synthesis and analysis. Both skills are enabling her subcontracts for Pantex. Tropp also has research projects related to conjugated polymers, a unique class of polymeric material. These polymers are long chain-like molecules where electrons flow freely along its length, giving it electrical and light-emitting properties. Conjugated polymers can operate more like a metal or semiconductor than typical polymers. One of his current research projects is developing testing strips to detect perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Lubbock drinking water.
“The reason I came to Texas Tech was to learn more about polymeric materials,” Galvan said. “I’m learning from Dr. Tropp to take relevant skills back to Pantex whenever I graduate.”
Tropp also empowers Galvan to develop as a researcher rooted in ceaseless, self-sustaining curiosity.
“He doesn’t just want us to ask ‘Why?’ He wants us to find the why in the literature,” Galvan said. “I think that’s really important for a Ph.D. student because not everyone is going to have the answer you need. You need to find it on your own. I think that’s really fueled my knowledge in polymers, that I have to go find the answers.
“His energy is so contagious. When you’re around him, you just get so excited about what he’s talking about. Since I’ve been here, I feel like I want to learn everything. Tropp’s curiosity in science really fuels all of us graduate students here.”
For her part, Galvan is trying to fuel the curiosity of other Texas Tech students through outreach events, assisting Pantex’s recruiters at info sessions and career fairs. She also meets with students in a one-on-one setting to answer any questions she can and share her professional experience.
Galvan encourages students to make as many connections as possible, whether that is through a career fair or info session, a research conference or even digital means.
She wants students to feel emboldened to talk about their goals and dreams in those interactions. She brings up the conversation she had with her Pantex manager about her initial desire to attend graduate school.
“One day, you’re going to find that person who will give you the opportunity to fulfill your dreams,” she said. “I’m very grateful to have met my manager at the plant. He gave me the opportunity to begin as a co-op and that turned into this researcher in residence position.”
Galvan sees her role as a researcher in residence as one that connects Texas Tech students to Pantex and vice-versa.
“I’m here at Texas Tech for my research, but I’m also here for those who are interested in Pantex,” she said. “You can see that these students are engaged, and I love seeing how enthusiastic they are. I love being able to help them and having the ability to direct them to people they can talk to.”