April 8, 2026
What do you like about your job and/or about working at the Lab?
I like the sense of working for something much bigger than any individual—working for an institution that does serious business and that has an impact at the national level and beyond.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
This is another thing I like about my job: there is no day-to-day routine. My main goal is to push science forward, and this includes but is not limited to: designing experiments, being in the lab doing experiments, analyzing results, troubleshooting instruments, writing and reviewing publications, writing and reviewing proposals, building teams for new projects, training colleagues, keeping track of what others publish, presenting at conferences, developing new collaborations, etc. Most of my experiments involve radioactive materials, so there is also a lot of planning.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
My research has multiple facets, so it's hard to select one. My very first project and experiment at the Lab was on the extraction of rare earth elements using natural proteins, a collaboration between Pennsylvania State and LLNL's Biosciences and Biotechnology Division. This project has particular significance for me. We call it “the lanmodulin project.” It has been a complete success so far and is it still on-going. Another one is the development of new methods to study radioactive elements (actinides, like plutonium, etc.) by using molecules called polyoxometalates. It allows us to synthesize compounds with very rare and radioactive research isotopes, while using only minute amounts (i.e., micrograms). This is a line of research we have been building in the past ~6 years with the Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division and Materials Science Division. We essentially improved the state-of-the-art methods by a factor of 1000, which means lower cost and much higher efficiency for DOE. I originally pitched this idea to the LDRD program during my first month here. It got funded and then it led me to continue this research via a DOE Early Career program. It is so rewarding to see an idea evolving into a multi-year project that now supports a team.
What is your educational/career background?
I originally wanted to be an engineer, but ended up getting an engineer diploma, a master’s degree, and then a PhD, and then doing two postdocs...I have an engineer diploma in chemical sciences and engineering, with a double major in nuclear fuel cycle chemistry. And I got a PhD in physical and analytical chemistry (in 2015).
What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?
I just like the idea of things being factual and undebatable. You can be a novice scientist and be right and you can also be a Nobel Prize laureate and be wrong. Science equalizes everything.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Talk to as many colleagues as possible. And don't forget your weekly timecard :-)
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
Various sports whenever possible (running, climbing, hiking, gym, etc.), walking my cat (yes, for real), fixing stuff, coffee hopping, antique store hopping.
Are you a member of any employee networking groups?
Running club
How many years have you worked at the Lab?
7
Where are you from?
France
Do you support disciplines or programs outside PLS?
Global Security
March 18, 2026
What do you like about your job and/or about working at the Lab?
I genuinely enjoy supporting our scientific staff with their daily tasks—it's a big part of what makes my job so fulfilling. As well as bringing the Physics team together through social events—it's amazing to see how each gathering helps us grow as a team.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
My day-to-day responsibilities include supporting our scientific staff with their daily work requests, organizing social events for the Physics Division to foster team connection, and serving as the time and absence coordinator—assisting the team with timecard management and related processes.
What is your educational/career background?
I earned my BS in psychology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where I developed a strong interest in understanding human behavior, motivation, and decision-making.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
I love spending my free time with family and friends, and I enjoy traveling and discovering new places.
How many years have you worked at the Lab?
2
Where are you from?
Livermore, CA
February 26, 2026
What do you like about your job and/or about working at the Lab?
I enjoy the variety of the really hard problems we are able to tackle, along with the diversity of brilliant talent that resides at LLNL, enabling us to solve those important problems for our nation and society.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
One of the first projects I worked on originated from an colleague approaching my computational team with a problem that had stagnated for years. They were trying to grow large single-crystals of extremely pure aluminum–antimonide material suitable for high-performance gamma radiation detectors. They succeeded with the growth, but the performance was significantly less than expected. We used predictive computer simulations to assess which trace impurities were causing the issues and to suggest a mitigation strategy during the growth. Within less than 2 years, we were able to make the predictions and implement a new growth process to demonstrate 10–100x improvement in performance.
What is your educational/career background?
I have a B.S. in chemical engineering with minors in materials science and applied mathematics, an M.S. in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering. I tried to obtain a somewhat varied education. Ironically, I originally was hired at LLNL as a physicist, a discipline for which I do not have a formal degree.
What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?
I was interested in science and technology since a very young age and always wanted to be a scientist when I grew up. I was interested in chemistry as a child, but a very influential advisor during my undergraduate education introduced me to the interdisciplinary field of materials science and encouraged me to study it in graduate school. The rest is history.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Look around as much as you can and talk to lots of people to learn what problems they work on. Learning the breadth of the Lab's work is challenging, but instrumental to a long and agile career here.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
I try to be a serious runner, which keeps getting harder as I get older. I also enjoy playing guitar.
How many years have you worked at the Lab?
20
Where are you from?
New Jersey
Do you support disciplines or programs outside PLS?
Global Security, Strategic Deterrence, and Computing
February 18, 2026
What do you like about your job and/or about working at the Lab?
I love being part of the admin team and supporting my groups. I find it rewarding to see people achieve their goals and never stop wanting to learn. I love working at LLNL for the sense of community and the chance to be part of work that makes a difference around the world. I also feel that LLNL truly cares about its employees, our health, and our work life balance, and that support means a lot to me.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I provide administrative support to four groups, as well as the High Pressure Collaborative Access Team (HPCAT) and Livermore Center for Quantum Science (LCQS) directors, in the Condensed Matter Section (CMS). My work includes coordinating domestic and foreign travel, organizing seminars, interviews, meetings, visits, tours, and collaborations, and processing requests for visiting scientists and academic partners. I also support the summer student hiring process and prepare hiring packets for LCQS. I am also always available to answer any questions anyone in the groups might have.
What is your educational/career background?
I have a BS in business administration, with a concentration in management and a minor in food studies, from California State University, Chico. I have a career background in human resources, recruiting, scheduling, and project coordination before my start at LLNL as an administrative specialist.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Do not be afraid to ask questions. Everyone was new at some point and understands that you will not know everything when you first start. It is important to keep asking questions, because eventually you will understand, and if you never ask, you might miss out on something important.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
I love spending my free time with my family, friends, and dog (a Chesapeake Bay Retriever) named Maple. I also enjoy sports, especially watching the Warriors, and just doing anything outside!
How many years have you worked at the Lab?
3
