Meet Dr. Braden Lusk

Dr. Braden Lusk's love of explosives started when he was just a young boy in his hometown of Hutchinson, Kansas where he used firecrackers to blow up his toys and other unsuspecting objects.

He then found an outlet for this passion through studying mining engineering and explosives at the University of Missouri at Rolla,(now Missouri University of Science and Technology, or Missouri S&T). After earning his B.S. in Mining Engineering, he went to work at an underground salt mine in Cleveland, OH. Dr. Paul Worsey, Braden's friend and academic advisor, recruited him back to Missouri S&T as a PhD student in mining engineering. During this time, he specialized in explosives research for Missouri S&T, Los Alamos National Laboratories, blast resistant window companies as well as demolition and mining companies.

He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mining Engineering at the University of Kentucky where he has continued his pursuit of experience with explosive related teaching and research.