IAEA Profile: From Football Field to Nuclear Safety

The IAEA profiles employees to provide insight into the variety of career paths that support the Agency's mission of Atoms for Peace and Development and to inspire and encourage readers, particularly women, to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) or STEM-adjacent fields. Read more profiles of women at the IAEA .

"When people talk about nuclear energy, they immediately ask two questions: is it safe and what will happen with the waste? I really like that I can answer the question with confidence and reassure people that radioactive waste management is safe," said Jaqueline Calabria, IAEA Radiation Protection Specialist.

But how did she get here? Calabria credits football for shaping her career.

Growing up in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Calabria pushed herself harder and practised on the field to earn a spot on the football team. "On the pitch I learned discipline, which later helped my nuclear career," said Calabria. "But I never thought I would get into the IAEA."

Her love for chemistry and desire to work in a laboratory, drove her to pursue higher education in science. However, her family could not afford to send her to a private university and the public universities in Brazil were highly competitive.

Driven by the discipline she developed playing sport, Calabria again pushed herself, this time academically, studying in the evenings and weekends. She became the first person in her family to be accepted to a public university, the Federal University of Minas Gerais, where she studied chemistry.