West Virginia couple use ANS Geiger counters for nuclear education

First Lieutenant Ann Gibeaut (left) and Captain Tim Adkins, West Virginia Civil Air Patrol. (Photo: Boone Composite Squadron, Civil Air Patrol)

The main group with whom Tim and Ann work are the cadets of the West Virginia Civil Air Patrol (CAP), where Tim is a captain and Ann is a first lieutenant. The CAP is an official volunteer auxiliary group of the U.S. Air Force.

Tim, a physician and infectious diseases fellow at the West Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown, W.Va., explained, “We teach our civil air patrol cadets—and others in our community adult groups, too—about the different kinds of radiation and how to measure them. Also, we discuss the presence of radiation in nature to familiarize them with how radiation actually works. We use the Geiger counters to conduct demonstrations, which are pretty popular. Most people have an idea that radiation is some highly dangerous thing rather than a ubiquitous natural force that can be dangerous but comes in different degrees.”

The spark of an idea

The idea for the Geiger counter educational activities originated with Ann Bisconti, the founder and president of Bisconti Research, the Maryland-based company that has been producing public opinion surveys about nuclear energy since 1996.

Bisconti recalled, “I met Dr. Adkins in 2022. I was hospitalized at Ruby Memorial Hospital at the West Virginia University Health Science Center in Morgantown. Dr. Adkins was assigned to me as my general medicine doctor. When he learned about my involvement in nuclear energy, he told me about the work that he and his wife were doing to educate youth groups on science topics, including nuclear energy.”

Bisconti mentioned that ANS had a stockpile of old Geiger counters that weren’t currently in use—and may not be in working order—but that the Society sometimes gave them out as an educational resource. “He was very enthusiastic,” Bisconti said, “so I asked ANS to send him any that they had available.”

Two years later, Bisconti and Adkins crossed paths again. “He was delighted to inform me that he and his wife had fixed the Geiger counters and used them extensively in West Virginia. He sent me some photos he had taken of the use of the Geiger counters with civil air patrol youth,” she said.

Bisconti added, “Hands-on tools are the best education, and this is a true success story out of a storage closet!”

Tim’s diverse experience

Tim Adkins’s diverse background encompasses medicine, science, aerospace, education, humanitarian relief, computer technology, and intelligence and military operations. He has been a fellow at the WVU School of Medicine since June 2024, specializing in infectious diseases, internal medicine, tropical medicine, and global health.

Before beginning his medical studies, Tim earned undergraduate degrees in political and economic philosophy and industrial electronics technology. From 2010 to 2014, he served in the Military Intelligence Corps of the U.S. Army, where he specialized in intelligence electronic warfare and was deployed overseas. After his honorable discharge from the Army, he worked as a contractor conducting surveillance training. He is also an FAA-licensed, instrument-rated commercial pilot.

Tim has been a volunteer health services officer in the CAP since 2023. As a CAP officer and physician, he provides medical and safety advice to the CAP squadron commander during disaster and humanitarian relief operations.

Tim described himself as “a big space nerd” who also has an interest in air power. “Nuclear issues are intimately connected to both,” he continued. “Radiation is a big issue in space, and serious space exploration will require nuclear energy to accomplish missions on realistic timescales—whether it’s a nuclear thermal rocket or some kind of electric thruster like VASIMR [Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket]. I’m also a big naturalist, and nuclear energy is the only realistic way we have to reduce global carbon output.”

Ann’s multifaceted career

Ann Gibeaut teaches CAP cadets about Geiger counters. (Photo: Boone Composite Squadron, Civil Air Patrol)

Ann Gibeaut, who is a broadcast meteorologist and worker’s compensation claims manager, met her husband in high school during a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) trip to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. And like Tim, she is a multifaceted, multitalented individual. “My professional and academic background is quite diverse. I’ve worked in the world of workers’ compensation for 23 years, which doesn’t give me much time to enjoy all my scientific interests. Therefore, I’ve taken advantage of both educational moonlighting and volunteer opportunities to do what I love,” she said.

Ann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geography. With her minor in meteorology, she moonlights for WVNS 59News in Ghent, W.Va., as a broadcast meteorologist.

In college, she had an internship with the National Weather Service, during which she learned such meteorological skills as recording temperature and precipitation levels, performing storm verifications, documenting local storm reports, and assisting with severe weather operations. She aided the operational team during the severe tornado that struck Charleston, W.Va., in June 2019.

When she’s not working on TV, Ann is the full-time claims program director and team lead for the Federal Black Lung Benefits Act at the insurance claims adjuster Sedgwick, as well as a part-time administrative manager for the West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Association.

Ann describes herself as an “unapologetic nerd who loves to learn, grow, and help others do the same.” One way in which she helps others is through her volunteer work with CAP. “I currently serve as the squadron commander of the Boone Composite Squadron, West Virginia Wing. The CAP advances professional volunteer service, emergency response, and aerospace education in communities across America.”

Nuclear power in West Virginia?

Teaching West Virginians about nuclear energy may present an extra challenge for Tim and Ann, considering that West Virginia—long famous for its coal production—derives no energy from nuclear power. According to the Energy Information Administration, 86 percent of the state’s net electricity generation came from coal-fired power plants in 2023, with natural gas, hydro, and wind accounting for most of the rest.

Some West Virginian political leaders are advocating for the introduction of nuclear power in the state. In 2022, lawmakers passed state legislation that repealed two bills from the late 1990s that had prohibited nuclear plants in West Virginia.

In 2024, West Virginia University’s Bridge Initiative for Science and Technology Policy, Leadership, and Communications published a review on the potential benefits of nuclear energy for the state. That review noted, “In 2023, Governor Justice applied to the NRC to become an NRC Agreement State, to transfer partial authority for regulation of nuclear materials to the state government. In 2023 and 2024, H.B. 3434 and H.B. 5150—introduced in the House of Delegates—stalled in committee. These bills would have encouraged the development of SMRs at former coal sites.”

The report concluded that the “immature nature” of small modular reactor technology, along with siting challenges in the state, made pursing nuclear development a risky venture. “Should policymakers wish to encourage SMR or other advanced nuclear development in West Virginia,” the report said, “one policy option is to establish a nuclear energy working group composed of experts from academia, industry, and government. This group could help guide the state’s nuclear development. A program like Virginia’s Power Innovation Fund, which supports advanced energy technology research and nuclear workforce development and assists with site selection for SMR projects, could be pursued.”

Educational activities with the CAP and elsewhere

One of Tim and Ann’s Geiger counters for their educational outreach activities in West Virginia, shown with uranium glass specimens.

A piece of uranium glass under ultraviolet light next to a Geiger counter. (Photos: Boone Composite Squadron, Civil Air Patrol

The CAP offers a variety of programs for young people, including an education program that promotes aerospace, aviation, and STEM-related careers with a standards-­based, hands-on curriculum and activities. Volunteer CAP officers also provide emergency services for communities, such as search and rescue and disaster relief.

CAP’s cadet program trains young people between the ages of 12 and 21 in teamwork, moral leadership, aerospace education, technical skills to support emergency services, and military history and customs. CAP has squadrons throughout the United States consisting of adult volunteers and youth cadets. Members of CAP squadrons often go into schools to help educate K-12 students about aerospace- and STEM-related subjects.

Tim and Ann work with CAP youths through the cadet program, but they also work informally with young people through local homeschooling initiatives. They also have formed connections with schools that are important to their educational outreach. “Aerospace education is a big activity of CAP, and we work to establish partnerships with local science teachers, who can become ‘aerospace education members,’” Tim said. “We also live in a small town and have contacts with science teachers locally.”

For Ann, her lifelong interests in science and community education fit nicely with CAP’s mission. “Nuclear and atomic science has always fascinated me,” she said. “Growing up largely after the Cold War ended, I did not do nuclear drills in school. However, as I explored my first life passion, meteorology, the opportunity arose to learn more about other disciplines. That led me to becoming quite interested in civil defense, which of course was focused on community and individual preparedness in the case of a nuclear attack on the United States.”

The ANS Geiger counters have been a great help to Ann and Tim in educating the CAP cadets and other people in their community about nuclear science. Soon after receiving the Geiger counters in 2022, Tim wrote to ANS, expressing his gratitude and explaining how he and his wife were using the devices with local schools. “We are sending one to Scott High, which is our local public high school. The chemistry teacher there is developing a curriculum for radiation that should be in place next year, pending an approval by the administration, and that will make good use of the counter,” Tim wrote. “They are very excited to be able to teach that subject. We are also talking with Sherman High, but they haven’t come up with a definite plan yet. The third is making the rounds in our homeschool group. Thank you again for your kind gift!”

Ann enjoyed the mechanical puzzle of making the equipment usable once again. She said, “Receiving the vintage Geiger counters presented a unique challenge to me, as I had to find out how to calibrate them and ensure they were viable for use. Fortunately, there is a very brilliant gentleman in our radio club who is intimately familiar with vintage Geiger counters and radioactivity; his name is Timothy Hall. He assisted me with calibrating them and replacing the check sources for them.” (Ann, who belongs to the Logan County Amateur Radio Club, has a general class amateur radio license and serves over radio as a Skywarn Net Controller volunteer for the NWS.)

“The first thing I wanted to do was share this newfound knowledge with children in our community,” Ann continued. “Through the CAP, I presented a module for the cadets that explored the history of atomic science, the difference in radiation types, and what absorbed dose does to the body. I presented them with radioactive Fiestaware and uranium glass to explore with the counter.” Uranium glass is glass that had natural uranium added to it for coloration during the early 20th century. As a result, it is slightly radioactive, similar to the uranium-glazed Fiestaware dish brand.

Ann recalled the cadets’ reaction to the demonstration with the Geiger counters, as their eyes lit up when they heard the “click” of the Geiger counter, “discovering a world hidden from them until that moment. We talked about background radiation, radon. . . . It was a wonderful experience. I’ve also shared a similar presentation with homeschooled children.”

Tim has also observed the fascination that young people have about radiation, and he and Ann use this natural interest as a doorway to science education. He said, “In terms of education, young people are usually fairly familiar with the concept of a Geiger counter and radiation from popular culture. We focus more on demonstrating the various types of radiation, such as alpha and gamma, by demonstrating gamma shields and examining some known radiation sources. We have a small collection of objects that are radioactive, such as some antiques. We have a small collection of uranium glass and Fiesta­ware that we show off.”

In addition to working with young people, the couple also perform educational demonstrations with adult groups in their CAP activities. Tim said, “CAP works with emergency services, disaster response, and also with veterans’ organizations like the VFW [Veterans of Foreign Wars] as part of our community service mission. We provide honor guards comprised of cadets to the VFW, for example.”

Ann has discovered another use for the Geiger counters: examining radioactivity levels at antique shops. “This has been a wonderful exploration that my children and I first started and that we have encouraged others to do. Toting along the vintage Geiger, we visit local antique malls to find antique radioactive items and ascertain their relative safety using the gamma shield. Our children, Kerrigan, who is 20, and Samuel, who is 16, are always excited if they find something, and check diligently to see how much beta versus gamma radiation the item is emitting. Kerrigan discovered a clock with radium paint that was emitting a low—but notably higher-than-background—gamma level.”

Fundamentally important

Ann and Tim plan to continue and perhaps expand their CAP work and other community education efforts. They hope their nuclear education efforts will contribute to improved public understanding about nuclear energy. Tim said, “We are looking to expand CAP’s reach—and, thus, the aerospace education mission—to neighboring counties, but a lot of that depends on public buy-in, as it’s a volunteer group. I think that nuclear energy is going to be very important for the future, particularly in terms of space exploration.”

Ann added, “Educating people about nuclear energy is a fundamentally important step to its widespread adoption and use. I would greatly enjoy having the opportunity to see how nuclear energy could help my state and our nation. . . . We would love the opportunity to collaborate with others if we can connect with interested people locally.”

Although Ann and Tim see the current prospects of West Virginia adopting nuclear energy as unlikely, “plans to start constructing data centers in the state might alter the calculus a bit,” noted Tim. “Coal is very important in the politics of West Virginia, so it will likely take significant public education paired with outside expert interventions to make nuclear a viable option in the state. I am more optimistic about SMRs, however, because they have a lot of great features for remote areas.”

Ann believes that nuclear energy makes a lot of sense for her state, pointing out that “nuclear power could be very viable in West Virginia, with some caveats. We do have far less natural disaster risk overall, which supports safe nuclear energy. West Virginia also has substantial natural gas and coal reserves to tap into for ongoing energy production for a while to come. Nuclear power needs to be in the discussion when it comes to energy diversification in our state, especially in support of economic development. Education for the public has to be the first step.”

ANS K-12 STEM Programs

The Geiger counters donated to Tim and Ann by ANS are not the only devices the Society has provided to communities for educational purposes. ANS regularly provides Visualizing Radiation Cloud Chamber Kits to educators as part of its K-12 STEM Programs. This kit allows students to see the effects of ionizing radiation through a hands-on activity in which the materials provided, along with 91 percent alcohol and dry ice, are used to build four cloud chambers.

Other educational resources that are available through ANS STEM Programs include the Navigating Nuclear curriculum and other lesson plans, nuclear careers brochures, special patches and badges for Scouting groups, educational videos and virtual field trips, simulated uranium fuel pellets, radiation dose calculators, and even an interactive isotope app. Educators who are interested in obtaining such resources should contact Uchenna Ezibe, senior manager of ANS STEM Programs, at uezibe@ans.org