2014-current Director, Center for Sustainable Energy at Notre Dame
2009-2018    Director, Energy Frontier Research Center Materials Science of Actinides
2009-current   The Henry Massman Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame
2002-2009       Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
2007-current   Concurrent Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame
2002-2009       Professor of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
2002-current   Special Term Appointment, Chemistry Division, Argonne National Laboratory
2000-2002       Massman Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
1999-2002       Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
1999-2002       Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
1997-1999       Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame 
1996-1997       Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
1995-1996       NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico
1994-1995       NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
1994-1995       Research Fellow, Clare Hall College, University of Cambridge
1990-1994       Lecturer and Teaching Assistant, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Manitoba
1988-1989       Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, University of Western Ontario
1986-1988       Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, University of New Brunswick
1986               Research Assistant, Department of Geology, University of New Brunswick 

2018-2020 Past President, International Mineralogical Association (IMA)
2016-2018       President, International Mineralogical Association (IMA)
2015-current   Member, Commission on Inorganic and Mineral Structures (CIMS) of the International Union of Crystallography.
2014-2016       Vice President, International Mineralogical Association (IMA)
2013               Editor, Mineralogical Association of Canada Short Course volume “Uranium: Cradle to Grave”
2013-2015       Peacock Medal Committee, Mineralogical Association of Canada
2011-              Special Section Editor, American Mineralogist
2009-2010       National Academy of Science Nuclear Waste Form Committee
2010-2011       Chair, Officer Nomination Committee, Mineralogical Society of America
2008-2009       Chair, Roebling Medal Committee, Mineralogical Society of America
2010-2012       Past-President, Mineralogical Association of Canada
2008-2010       President, Mineralogical Association of Canada
2006-2008       Vice President, Mineralogical Association of Canada
2008-2010       Member of Council, Mineralogical Society of America
2005-current  College of Reviewers for the Canada Research Chairs program
2005-2008       Advanced Photon Source General Proposal Review Panel
2005-2006       Editorial Advisory Board, Elements, An International Magazine of Mineralogy, Geochemistry and Petrology
2001-2006       Associate Editor, American Mineralogist
1998-2004       Associate Editor, Canadian Mineralogist
1998-2006       Member of Council, Mineralogical Association of Canada
1999-2000       Lecture Program Committee, Mineralogical Society of America
 2001              Chair, Lecture Program Committee, Mineralogical Society of America
2007-2008       Chair, Crystallography Award Committee, Mineralogical Society of America
2001-present  Public Service Committee, Mineralogical Society of America
1999               Editor, Mineralogical Society of America Reviews in Mineralogy “Uranium: Mineralogy, Geochemistry and the Environment” 

2017       Elected Honorary Member of the Mineralogical Society of Russia
2016       Peacock Medal of the Mineralogical Association of Canada
2003       Mineral burnsite named by a group of Russian and Canadian scientists
2001       MSA Award and Life Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America
1999       Donath Medal of the Geological Society of America
1998       Young Scientist Medal of the Mineralogical Association of Canada
1997       Hawley Medal (best paper award) of the Mineralogical Association of Canada
1995       Elected Life Member of Clare Hall College, University of Cambridge
1994       Winthrop Spencer Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Geological Sciences
1994       Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Post Doctoral Fellowship
​1994       International Centre for Diffraction Data Crystallography Scholarship
1994 Mineralogical Society of America Biennial Grant for Research in Crystallography
1994       Elected Research Fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge
1993       International Centre for Diffraction Data Crystallography Scholarship
1992       The J.L. Lightcap Award for Highest Standing in U. of M. Ph.D. Program
1992       University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship
1988-92  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Graduate Scholarship
1991       Dr. George Brownell Memorial Prize for Highest Standing in Geological Sciences
1991       Geological Association Graduate Seminar Prize
1991       Sigma Xi Student Award for Excellence in Research
1988       U. W. O. Special Entrance Scholarship
1987       Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Earth Science Scholarship
1987       Tom and Parker Hickey Memorial Scholarship
1987       Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Student Research Assistantship
1987       The Wood Scholarship
1986       Fredericton MAC-GAC 1985 Scholarship
1986       U. N. B. Alumni Undergraduate Scholarship
1986       Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Student Research Assistantship
1986       Tom and Parker Hickey Memorial Scholarship 

2017-2022       U.S. National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA), Center of Excellence (PI and Director) Actinide Center of Excellence. $12,553,547.

​2014-2019       U.S. Department of Homeland Securiy (DHS). With Simonetti (PI) and Hixon (co-PI). Advancement of Nuclear Forensic Science. $1,748,112.

2014-2018       Energy Frontier Research Center, Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences. Materials Science of Actinides.  $12,000,000.  Burns is the PI and Director.

2012-2014       Nuclear Energy University Program. With Na (PI). 
Microscopic fuel particles produced by self-assembly of actinide nanoclusters on carbon nanomaterials. $440,000.

2011-2014       National Science Foundation. With Lieberman (PI) and three others.  
MRI: Acquisition of an X-Ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS). $533,761.

2011-2014       National Nuclear Security Administration. With Simonetti (PI, UND), McNamara (PNNL) $885,471.

2010-2013       Environmental Remediation Science Program, U.S. Department of Energy 
Inorganic Controls of Neptunium Mobility in the Subsurface. $627,000.

2009-2014       Energy Frontier Research Center, Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences. 
Materials Science of Actinides.  $18,500,000. 

2007-2016       Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy
Topological Structural Relationships, Properties, and Nano-Structures of U(VI), Np(V), Pu(V) and Pu(IV) Materials. $1,230,000.

2004-2008       Science and Technology Program, U.S. Department of Energy
Impact of Uranyl Alteration Phases of Spent Fuel on Mobility of Np and Pu in Yucca Mountain. $910,000.

2003-2005       Environmental Management Science Program, U.S. Department of Energy
Quantifying and Predicting Reactive Transport of Uranium in Waste Plumes: Are Colloids and Nanoparticles Important? $75,000.

2002-2009       Environmental Molecular Science Institute, National Science Foundation. Co-PI 
Actinides and Heavy Metals in the Environment – The Formation, Stability, and Impact of Nano- and Micro-Particles. $5,500,000.

2003-2004       Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. 
Subsurface Chemistry in Hanford’s Tank Farms. $80,000.

2002-2005       Environmental Management Science Program, U.S. Department of Energy
Phosphate Barriers for Immobilization of Uranium Plumes. $270,000.

2000-2004       Environmental Management Science Program, U.S. Department of Energy
Direct Investigations of the Immobilization of Radionuclides in the Alteration Products of Spent Nuclear Fuel. $871,000.

2002-2003       National Science Foundation – NATO
Crystal Structure Analysis of Uranyl Selenites and New (Rare) Minerals Using CCD-based X-ray Area Detector. $42,600.

2001-2002       University of Notre Dame Equipment Restoration Fund: Co-PI 
Acquisition of an Electron Microprobe. $200,000.

2001-2002       NATO: Collaborative Linkage Grant Investigations of Incorporation of Toxic Metals and Radionuclides into Structures of Secondary Minerals. 528,000 Belgium Francs

2001-2003       Georgia Pacific Corporation: Co-PI 
Investigations of the occurrences of natural dioxins. $225,000.
​
1999-2001       National Science Foundation: Co-PI 
Acquisition of a Travelling Solvent Floating Zone Furnace for Research and Education. $131,500.

1999-2001       REU Supplement, National Science Foundation
Investigations of the Crystal Chemistry of Pb Uranyl Oxide Hydrate Minerals Using a CCD-based X-Ray Area Detector. $6125

1999-2001       National Science Foundation – NATO:
CCD X-Ray Detectors Applied to Mineral Structure Analysis. $49,800

1999-2001       National Science Foundation 
Investigations of the Crystal Chemistry of Pb Uranyl Oxide Hydrate Minerals Using a CCD-based X-Ray Area Detector. $92,000

1997-2000       Environmental Management Science Program
U.S. Department of Energy: PI: Direct Investigations of the Immobilization of Radionuclides in the Alteration Products of Spent Nuclear Fuel. $632,487.