Dr. Grinyer obtained her BSc in physics at McMaster University in Hamilton and her MSc and PhD degrees in experimental nuclear physics at the University of Guelph. In 2008, she received the prestigious P. Gregers Hansen postdoctoral research fellowship at Michigan State University. From 2010 to 2017, Dr. Grinyer worked as a staff research scientist for the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) at France’s heavy-ion accelerator facility, the Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds (GANIL) in Caen, Normandie. Since 2017, Dr. Grinyer has been on the faculty at the University of Regina, where she currently holds the title of Associate Professor.
Dr. Grinyer’s research uses beams of rare isotopes to study the properties of short-lived radioactive nuclei that are furthest from stability. The structure and decays of these "exotic" nuclei are crucial for understanding how the nuclear force evolves towards the extremes of matter and for describing the observed abundances of stable nuclei that are produced throughout the universe in explosive astrophysical scenarios. Her research is carried out at TRIUMF and at other rare isotope production and accelerator facilities around the world. In 2024, Dr. Grinyer’s lifetime research contributions were recognized through a Fellowship Award from the Canadian Association of Physicists.
In addition to experimental physics research, Dr. Grinyer is passionate about equity, diversity and inclusion in STEM fields, physics education, and science communication.