Explore this page to learn more about the people behind the science.
March 29, 2024
What do you like about working at the Lab?
My favorite thing about working at LLNL is getting to work with really smart and passionate people and getting to discuss interesting and challenging problems with them. Beyond that, having access to some of the best scientific resources in the world (e.g., NIF and HPC), getting to constantly learn and participate in cutting-edge science, and being able to directly contribute to national security and real-world applications is hard to beat!
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
My job requires a variety of different tasks, therefore, my day-to-day work varies. This might include several meetings trying to coordinate and execute the large-scale/team science that we carry out at LLNL, reading material and/or asking our SMEs about whatever topic/question I'm trying to track down at the moment, or carrying out simulations and/or developing analyses for my different projects.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I'm still relatively new at the Lab so I don't have a large list of projects that I "have" worked on so much as I have several projects that I am excited to currently "be" working on. At the top of the list is my neutron survivability work and the PROACTIVE arms control venture that has just begun.
What is your educational or career background?
I started out at a small liberal arts college with a double major in physics and business administration and then pivoted (somewhat) to getting a PhD in nuclear engineering with a focus on radiation detection for nonproliferation applications. From there I spent a year doing the NNSA Graduate Fellowship in NNSA's Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development before starting at LLNL in August 2021.
What inspired you to go into science?
My interest in science really bloomed in high school thanks to my AP chemistry and physics courses. I love learning in general, but in particular trying to understand our universe/nature is not only fascinating but I think one of the most inspiring things about humanity. I knew I wanted to study chemistry or physics, and the chemistry course was full my freshman year so voila, I became a physics major! When considering grad school, I was really interested in particle physics, but I wasn't sure I wanted to commit to six more years of school and also wanted something more applied to facilitate staying in research/science outside of academia. I then had a dream about becoming a nuclear engineer, woke up and looked into it, and then proceeded to stumble into the field of radiation detection for nonproliferation, which more or less landed me where I am now!
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Take advantage of opportunities to learn about all the awesome work going on at the Lab and its history, people here like talking about their work and helping others so don't be afraid to reach out and ask questions/for help. Lastly, appreciate how unique and rewarding working at LLNL is.
What do you do in your free time?
In my free time I enjoy exercising (weightlifting, basketball, running), reading (trying to find the balance between reading to learn vs reading for fun), am currently learning Russian, and have just started using my scuba diving certification!
March 15, 2024
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I love the freedom and creativity that I have here. I feel like any time I get a project, I am able to be creative with it and really just run with my ideas. I consider myself to be a "translator of the sciences," and I love breaking tough science topics down into easier to understand articles that even non-scientific folks, like myself, can understand.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I am usually bouncing between several projects—working on an ongoing article, interviewing people across PLS, putting together a presentation, updating website content, working with other creative staff members like our graphic designers or videographers, writing the weekly PLS Notable Newsletter, etc.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I work on a lot of projects, but writing is my favorite thing to do, so I would have to say my favorite project is the article I wrote on a ROTC summer intern for the Energetic Materials Center.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a bachelor's in communications, a minor in art history, and am working on finishing my master's in English.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I have always had a knack for writing essays but never really imagined writing about science as a career until I came to the Lab. Now, there is no place I'd rather be.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Don't pretend like you know what something (like an acronym) means!! If you have a question, ask it! It is always better to ask in the moment then to later regret not having asked.
What do you do in your free time?
I love going to San Francisco, visiting art museums, going on runs/to the gym, and cuddling with my cat Tommy T. I'm a member of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women's Association (LLLWA) employee resource group.
Learn more about Shelby:
Biography
February 15, 2024
What do you like about working at the Lab?
As a PhD student, the access I have to the Lab facilities and the mentorship I have received from scientists who are experts in their field have been invaluable. I also have had the opportunity to conduct research contributing to cutting edge scientific problems that have a real impact on the United States and the world.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I conduct research on several different laser facilities so in that role I could be taking data on a laser, analyzing data with my team, or preparing shot plans for further experiments. I also do supportive simulations, diagnostic development, and sample preparation for these experiments.
What is your educational or career background?
I received my bachelor’s in physics from UC Berkeley. I started working at the Lab as an undergraduate student in Strategic Deterrence. After I graduated, I became an employee at the Lab before I transitioned to becoming a PhD student through UC San Diego, conducting all of my thesis research at the Lab.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I loved that physics provided concrete answers to some of the biggest mysteries in the universe. I also wanted my work to be impactful and I wanted to be working on solving big problems. This led me to major in physics as an undergraduate student and to continue pursuing physics into graduate school. The combination of fundamental physics problems with national security applications lead me to the Lab.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
I would advise new employees to really take advantage of the expertise surrounding them at the Lab and to push to make sure they are constantly learning and growing as scientists.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
I run marathons. I also rock climb and surf.
Learn more about Sophie:
Spotlight
December 12, 2023
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I really enjoy the teams of people I work with and our project scopes. It's a really creative and innovative environment where we can often utilize really cool and cutting edge scientific approaches and techniques.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
About half of the day, I spend doing hands-on laboratory work, mostly molecular and cellular biology. This includes passaging tissue culture lines or doing viral challenges, setting up and performing various in vitro assays, cloning new constructs, or generating new cell lines. The other half of my day is spent in meetings, analyzing data, writing reports, making presentations, and collaborating with others.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
Without a doubt, the COVID-related projects. I've been a team member on various SARS-CoV-2 countermeasure projects, ranging from small-molecule inhibitors of viral proteins up to computationally designed neutralizing antibodies. These projects have been both internally and externally sponsored, and have a wide-ranging team encompassing all different scientific backgrounds. It's been a great experience to work so collaboratively with so many people on such an important focus point!
What is your educational or career background?
I have a bachelor's degree in Biotechnology from UC Davis, and went to work in biotech at a genomics startup. I left to pursue my PhD in Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics from UCLA. I did a postdoc in the Systems Biology group at Sandia National Laboratories prior to joining LLNL.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I've always been drawn to the sciences. I used to joke that "Jurassic Park" is what took me to Biotechnology originally. I wanted to be the scientist who hatched and played with the baby dinos (but got off the island safely before the storm, of course). Once in college, I had the opportunity to take so many different lecture and laboratory courses, and really got interested in molecular mechanisms, and over time I really felt drawn towards medical microbiology. Infectious diseases, how they're caused, how to combat them. I now find myself working at the intersection of host-pathogen interactions, and how to apply new cutting-edge techniques (like CRISPR) in pursuit of countermeasures and therapeutics. I find it to be really rewarding and important work for scientific advancement, as well as public health and biosecurity.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
I'd recommend trying to meet many people, and keep open to new possibilities. I started during the COVID shutdown, and it took me a while to meet lots of people, but I'm constantly surprised and interested by all the cool science and work being done all around, but also made so many friends that make this a great place to be.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
I really enjoy spending family time together with my wife and young daughter. We enjoy playing outside, going on hikes, and love exploring on day trips (including zoos, aquariums, and museums), and hopefully traveling more once COVID is less of a concern. Otherwise, I love curling up around a good book, especially space Sci-Fi.
Learn more about Edwin:
Biography
October 5, 2023
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I like that in my job at LLNL I am collaborating with passionate and intelligent people. And that working at LLNL allows you to work on science that can have a big impact.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
These days I sit at a desk a lot, working on my computer, answering emails, attending meetings, and talking to people in my team and group. The work I do supports planning, executing, and analyzing NIF shots as well as planning and shepherding diagnostic development at NIF. My role involves a lot of coordinating with engineers, target fabrication and facility staff. I also prepare and support the preparation of publications and presentations.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I am extremely proud to have contributed (even if only in a very small way) to the tremendous achievement of NIF demonstrating controlled fusion ignition in the laboratory.
What is your educational or career background?
Started University in Wuerzburg, Germany, in 2000. I received my M.A. from UT Austin in 2004, and my PhD in Plasma Physics from Imperial College in 2009. I've worked at the Lab for 12 years.
What inspired you to go into science?
I was inspired to go into physics because I wanted to learn how things work in the universe. For my field of work, I was inspired by its potential applications in clean energy.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Be proactive and don’t worry about over-communicating. I would also say, do not take constructive criticism personally, people generally just want to get the best end result.
What do you do in your free time?
With two little kids, there is not much free time at the moment, but I enjoy board games, reading, music, as well as hiking. I'm a member of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women's Association (LLLWA) employee resource group.
Learn more about Sabrina:
Biography
March 17, 2023
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I like my job because I get to work with the best scientists in the world. The Lab and our program also offer great opportunities for teamwork, helping us tackle big and challenging scientific problems in our field.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS and MS degree in atmospheric sciences from National Taiwan University and a PhD in atmospheric and oceanic sciences from UCLA. I have been at the Lab for over 10 years.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
I encourage new employees to explore many opportunities that the Lab offers. Get to know new people both in and outside of your field. LLESA offers a lot of great activities, and you get to know and interact with people from all around the Lab.
What do you do in your free time?
I like to play tennis when I have free time and I am a part of LLESA tennis group here at the Lab. I also like traveling, especially to national parks across the country to enjoy nature’s beauty and the amazing scenery.
Learn more about Hsi-Yen:
Biography
February 17, 2023
What do you like about working at the Lab?
At the Laboratory, we have the opportunity to tackle some of the most challenging scientific problems of our time. This is a curse (it's not easy) and a blessing (it matters). In my case, I work on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of nuclear fission. Fission, and nuclear reactions in general, are qualitatively well understood, but developing sufficiently precise theoretical models for relevant applications at the Lab is extraordinarily difficult. It requires sustained investments, sometimes over decades, which would be difficult to secure in an academic environment. This long-term perspective is one of the things I like the most about the Laboratory.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I wish I could say that I sit at my desk and ponder about atomic nuclei. Sadly, this is not the case, as there are many other pressing items that require my attention. Instead, I write a lot of emails throughout the day and attend (too many) meetings. Some of meetings are on mundane administrative topics like office space, others are more stimulating and involve brainstorming to solve a problem. Other times, I am working to improve and debug my programs, which does take a good amount of my time. Like every other scientist, an article or proposal will come my way that requires my review. Depending on the time of the year, I may also have to prepare a rather large number of reports, proposals, or slides for various people.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
There is no single project that I am really proud to have worked on. In fact, it is quite the opposite: what I am most proud of is that I have been able to (so far) work on multiple projects beyond my comfort zone. I have been working on modernizing our computer codes to adapt them on the advanced architectures pioneered at the Laboratory. Additionally, I have been exploring how machine learning techniques can be applied to solve some of the problems we have in nuclear theory. Most recently, I am interacting with experimentalists a lot more to learn how to produce quality nuclear data for applications. This variety keeps life interesting.
What is your educational or career background?
I am a standard product of the French educational system—I did the first two years of my undergraduate studies in what are called 'Classes Preparatoires aux Grandes Ecoles' in Bordeaux. I obtained a bachelor's in physics, master's in nuclear physics, and a physics engineering degree at the University of Strasbourg. After receiving a PhD in theoretical nuclear physics from the same university, I did a string of postdocs at the University of Surrey (UK), Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain), and University of Tennessee. I then joined the Lab in 2010 as a staff scientist in the nuclear data and theory group.
What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?
As a child, most of us never stopped asking our parents and teachers (or any grown-up around us) questions about why things are the way they are. I guess I was never satisfied with whatever answer I was given, so I have continued to ask myself questions ever since. Science can be very frustrating, but the few answers that sometimes trickle out of my research bring a very soothing sense of order into the chaos that is the universe. This strange reason of why I got into science in the first place may also explain why I specialized in theoretical physics.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
I arrived at the Lab already as a seasoned physicist with a good network of collaborators, some relatively clear ideas about my research, and a decent amount of experience in the research community. This probably made the transition much easier than if I had joined fresh out of grad school. My main focus in the first few years was to understand the sometimes arcane system of funding, learn at least a subset of the zillions of acronyms used here, and generally speaking—adapt myself to an organization that is different from a university or a basic science institute. As a Laboratory employee, we are part of a team, and the first thing to do is learn about the team.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
I try to convince my body that it can still sustain the same amount of sport as when I was a teenager. It usually fails, so I also spend a lot of time reading books.
Learn more about Nicolas:
Biography
October 5, 2022
What do you like about working at the Lab?
There are many opportunities to learn new things in the administrative area. A supportive management team always pushes me to better myself. Having a flexible work schedule to help with work/life balance has been amazing. Working on projects with amazing people and creating a team that supports each other makes for a great work environment.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I support the Division Leader, the Deputy Division Leader for Operations, Deputy Division Leader for S&T, a couple of other groups, and any other area that needs help in the division. I manage the summer student program for our division. I am also the administrator for the foreign national off-hours, working with the Foreign Visitors Office.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
The foreign national 24/7 off-hours project is my proudest accomplishment. I helped Lori Souza initiate this project to allow the directorates to have more ownership of approvals, as opposed to the foreign national office. Before this project, it used to take about 4 months to get things approved but once Lori and I came up with the process and got it vetted through security, the timeframe went down to less than a month and is even shorter now.
What is your educational or career background?
I started at LLNL in May of 1990 in the administrative field. I have always enjoyed taking care of people and decided to keep pursing this field. There are so many great opportunities at the Lab and the ability to constantly learn new things is a huge plus.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I started out at the Lab in a 6-month temporary position that has turned into a 30+ year career. Once I was on-site and experienced the opportunities offered at the Lab—jobs, training, benefits, and great colleagues—I knew this was going to be a place to start my career. Who knew 30+ years later I would still be here! It is a great place to work!
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Ask questions and be ready for lots of paperwork. Take advantage of all the different opportunities the Lab offers. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, there are so many people willing to help you out!
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I am a member of the Lab’s American Indian Activity Group (AIAG) and I attend Native American pow wows all over, and I enjoy watching my children sing and dance. I love camping and spending time with my 2 boxer pups.
September 8, 2022
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I love working at the Lab because I feel that I am supporting—in a very small way—the amazing scientific research that is happening here. The Lab also feels like being a part of a very large family, which is nice.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Each day at the Lab is different and exciting for me. Most days, I'm busy helping with job postings and interviews or answering personnel-type questions. I never know what new situations and questions will come up each day.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications and a law degree, both from Baylor University. My legal career started with handling a wide variety of legal cases: traffic tickets, family law matters, adoptions, and asbestos litigation. The majority of my law career, approximately 20 years, was spent in the field of immigration. I joined LLNL 6 years ago in January 2016 and started out in the International Services Office. In October 2019, I was excited to join BBTD as the Division Administrator.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
My desire to help people is what inspires me every day. I am happiest when I can make someone’s day easier in some way.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
I recommend that new employees make connections with as many people as possible at the Lab. There are so many wonderful and interesting people here.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family. I love watching my daughter play soccer and I love riding electric bikes with my husband.
September 1, 2022
What do you like about working at the Lab?
The people I work with are fantastic and they have a lot of great ideas for addressing difficult problems. I enjoy the problem-solving aspect of my job and working towards finding solutions.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Besides my usual meetings and emails, my days are filled with exploratory analysis of diverse data sets to tease out whether the experiments support our hypotheses.
What is your educational or career background?
I have BS in biology from Colorado State University and a PhD in molecular biology from Oregon State University. I have been at the Lab for 6 years.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Be ready to apply your expertise to other areas—you never know where the next opportunity for collaboration may come from.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
Guitar and woodworking.
Learn more about Jeff:
Biography
August 19, 2022
What do you like about working at the Lab?
One of the primary things I love about working at LLNL is the quality and diversity of my colleagues here. The Lab has an amazing depth of knowledge and a variety of disciplines beyond my current focus on particle physics. Here I can balance my interests in fundamental science with applied research that can materially support the nation.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I lead an experiment that looks for extremely faint microwave signals from primordial dark matter, in a similar fashion of how one would look for a radio station with an AM radio. This includes designing, constructing, and installing tunable microwave resonators to enhance the signal and suppress backgrounds, allowing us to search quickly through a large set of frequencies (equivalent to the mass of the particle). In addition, I’m fortunate to be the point-of-contact for the Department of Energy (DOE) High Energy Physics (HEP) program which includes telescope searches for dark energy, neutrino experiments, detector R&D, and theory and laser acceleration studies.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I’m extremely proud to be working on the Axion Dark Matter Experiment (ADMX). ADMX started at LLNL in the 1990s, and after a series of upgrades, it is now one of the DOE HEP Cosmic Frontier “Generation 2” direct dark matter search projects and the DOE’s flagship US search for axion dark matter. This is currently the most sensitive experiment in the world for axions in the gigagertz (GHz) frequency range and we continue to take data in at an increasing speed (which means detection could occur at any time now).
What is your educational or career background?
I got my bachelor’s in physics from Harvey Mudd College and my PhD in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In between undergrad and grad school I spent a summer as a research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I came to LLNL 15 years ago, directly after graduate school, as a postdoctoral researcher and transitioned to a staff scientist a few years later.
What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?
I remember reading Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time” in middle school and it completely blew my mind. I couldn’t believe the relation between time and space and how you can calculate the evaporation of a black hole from quantum mechanics. The fact that beautiful mathematics can describe nature but also that deep mysteries still exist and require exploration has always driven my desire to explore our natural world at the most fundamental level.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
My advice would be to explore this exceptional place and to carve out the time in your busy schedule to attend presentations and visit with groups outside of your current work area. Be proactive and curious and you’ll have a very rich experience here.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
I like to go running and I’m a big movie nerd.
Learn more about Gianpaolo:
Biography
July 7, 2022
What do you like about working at the Lab?
The Lab is filled with interesting and important science, new learning opportunities and areas to work in, and different people to team up with. It is a very dynamic place to work and the work we do is always changing to address new challenges.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
In my research, I use radiocarbon to track carbon as it moves through ecosystems, is stored in soils, and cycles back into the atmosphere. A lot of my day-to-day activities include making sure that our group is succeeding in our field and laboratory work. I also spend a lot of my time interpreting and discussing data, writing scientific papers, and developing new research proposal ideas.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
It’s so hard to choose just one—I have worked with many great people on a variety of interesting projects. I’m really proud of the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment. SPRUCE is a US Department of Energy project where a large group of scientists and researchers, myself included, are learning about the impacts of climate change on a forested peatland in Minnesota.
What is your educational or career background?
After high school, I have a BS in environmental science from DePaul University, MS at the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry (yep, it’s a mouthful!), and finally a PhD in forest engineering with a minor in soil science from Oregon State University. I started my postdoctoral research position a few weeks after finishing school, and I have been at the Lab for 14 years.
What inspired you to go into science?
I was always curious, especially about nature and the relationship between plants and animals (including humans). When I was young, I also wondered about Earth’s place in the universe and was interested in space, stars, and other planets. I went to space camp when I was in 8th grade and discovered that I really wanted to learn about Earth—there are so many interesting things to learn about right here! At that time, people were worried about protecting wetlands and tropical forests. Learning about those ecosystems and helping to protect them felt really important to me. I also cared a lot about environmental justice and the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and human communities. Working at the Lab and researching the interactions between climate and environmental systems has been a great fit for me.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Meet and interact with people outside your immediate group to learn about the other work people are doing at the Lab. The Lab is a highly collaborative and supportive environment, and you'll find a lot of us are happy to talk about our work and the ways we could work together, we can even connect you with others who can help you if you're stuck. Keep an eye out for good mentors to help you in different areas—there are a lot of great ones here.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
I love spending time with my kids, both of whom are in elementary school. My family loves dogs and fosters for local animal rescues. I practice yoga, garden, read fiction, and love hiking, trail running, and bicycling. I am also a part of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women’s Association (LLLWA).
Learn more about Karis:
Biography
June 2, 2022
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I have appreciated the learning and growth opportunities at the Lab. In PLS, I am honored to work with great people who value the contributions and work of those around them. Over the course of my career, I have been able to expand my administrative experience and apply this to the successful teams that I have been a part of.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I am involved with many of the activities that happen in our division. No two days look the same, but some of my responsibilities include supervision, hiring activities, operations support, personnel tasks, awards, Division Office support, and addressing needs as they arise.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I am very proud to have been on several wonderful administrative teams but if I had to narrow it down to just one, I would say it was leading our admin team and supporting our division staff’s remote operations during the pandemic. This feat required synchrony, empathy, understanding, and true teamwork. I am very proud of the work our administrative staff continued to do despite the unknown challenges and new changes they had to contend with.
What is your educational or career background?
I started at the lab in November of 2009, and I have a BA in sociology, a master’s in public administration (MPA), and a certificate in human resource management (HRM). I recently added being a certified career coach to my list of achievements.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
My career has been gradual, but I have always had a spirit to serve. My career in the administrative realm has come very naturally. I am always looking for opportunities to learn and grow and I have found that this is my passion, I enjoy watching and supporting others succeed.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
It’s never too early to build a network. Although this requires effort and nurturing of relationships, this network becomes a resource to help you navigate your career.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
First and most importantly, I am a mom and wife. I enjoy traveling, I am a Disney addict, and I love learning about other cultures and customs. I am also a professional career coach and am passionate about helping others develop. At the Lab, I am a member of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women’s Association (LLLWA).
May 19, 2022
What do you like about working at the Lab?
Being at the Lab allows me to work on challenging, real-world, and cutting-edge scientific projects that impact the world. I find my work truly fascinating and fulfilling.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I provide chemical synthesis support on various projects at the Forensic Science Center.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
The discovery of the first brain penetrating antidote against nerve agents.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a PhD in chemistry from UC Berkeley and a BS from Florida International University. I have worked at the Lab for the last 12 years.
What inspired you to go into science?
I have wanted to be a scientist for as long as I can remember.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Get to know the colleagues in your field of expertise and in your immediate outside area, the Lab is a unique environment where collaborative ventures are encouraged and can be created.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
I enjoy spending time with my family, going on hikes, traveling, and playing soccer.
Learn more about Carlos:
Biography
January 21, 2022
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I enjoy having the opportunity to work with a multi-disciplinary team of biologists, engineers, and computational scientists on cutting-edge research and technology that advance our understanding of the human brain and how its activity evolves in neurodegenerative diseases or injury—a personal research interest of mine!
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
For the most part, my current experiments determine my day-to-day activities, from designing or running experiments to analyzing data. When I am not working on experiments, I fill my time with project management tasks and writing proposals or manuscripts.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
The 3D brain-on-a-chip system. It was a remarkable moment when our team recorded electrical activity, for the first time, throughout a reconstructed 3D neural tissue. As a postdoc, I led the development of the 3D neural tissue, optimizing cell culture conditions that would allow brain cells to form networks in a 3D space; and when integrated with a novel prototype of a 3D multi-electrode array developed by our team, we were able to monitor the engineered brain activity for days to weeks. I remember thinking that we were probably one of a handful of teams to witness this and should start writing up the manuscript for publication ASAP!
What is your educational or career background?
My scientific background is in neuroscience. I obtained a BS in life sciences from the University of Toronto, an MS in physiology from the University of Saskatchewan, and a PhD in physiology from the University of Toronto. I joined LLNL 4 years ago as a postdoc and was converted to a staff scientist in 2020.
What inspired you to go into science?
Curiosity of the human brain and behavior and some courses along the way during my undergraduate studies.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Join the PLS Buddy Program! Being paired with a staff member or postdoc who will help you settle in at the Lab is a great opportunity.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
If I am not spending time with family and friends, I am exploring the Bay area, hiking, or traveling.
Learn more about Doris:
Biography
January 21, 2022
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I love the fact that I get to meet and work with people from different areas of the world. I support a group of 36 seismologists and data scientists and it has been a pleasure to help them with tasks that are non-scientific related. I also work with a great administrative team and an amazing supervisor. I can always count on my team to lend a helping hand when situations arise.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I provide administrative support to a group of seismologists, assisting them with arranging domestic and foreign travel, seminars or talks, and occasionally larger meetings. I coordinate interviews when the group is hiring and help with the onboarding process of new hires and summer students. I also help set up collaborations and coordinate travel for those invited by my team to visit the Lab.
What is your educational or career background?
I have an Associate of Applied Science degree in business administration from Heald College. I have been at the Lab for 3 years, and prior to being hired by LLNL I was an AIS employee working in the Security Organization as a clearance processor.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Be patient and ask questions, even when you feel like you have asked the same question before, don’t be afraid to ask again. You might even learn something new or get a new perspective on the topic at hand. Get to the know how the Lab operates and the processes that come with each task, this will help you make better use of your time and become more efficient. Remember, it’s not expected for you to know everything about the Lab shortly after onboarding, there is a plethora of information to learn here. I would have to say the most important advice that I can provide any new employee is to communicate with your supervisor and colleagues, be open to learning new tasks, and share the knowledge that you acquire.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
When I am not working, I stay busy by attending dirt track races, as my husband is a driver. I also enjoy camping, traveling with my husband and our two dogs, and getting together with family and friends.
December 16, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
In my six years at the lab, I have had the opportunity to contribute to projects on a variety of subjects. This keeps the work intellectually engaging. I also like the people I work with, they are collegial, talented, and a pleasure to collaborate with.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
My primary role on projects is to develop models for processes that have fluid flow and reactions. I spend significant time deriving equations that describe reactive transport processes, writing code to numerically solve the equations, and comparing my model results with experimental data. Another important part of my work is to prepare materials to effectively communicate my findings to team members, sponsors, and the broader research community.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I have had the opportunity to be involved with the National Risk Assessment Partnership since I joined the Lab in 2015. It is a partnership between five national labs with the aim of quantifying and managing the risks associated with geological CO2 storage, an important tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We hope that the work will facilitate large-scale deployment of this technology to help mitigate climate change.
What is your educational or career background?
I am a chemical engineer by training. I completed my undergraduate degree at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and received my PhD from MIT. I worked at the Schlumberger Doll Research center in Cambridge, MA before joining the Lab as a postdoctoral scholar. I have now been at the Lab for 6 years.
What inspired you to go into science?
It was part interest and part circumstances. Math and science were my favorite subjects in school. During my undergraduate days in India, exam scores had a significant bearing on the undergraduate program one could pursue, which was also the case for me and how I majored in chemical engineering. I enjoyed the curriculum and decided to pursue my graduate education in the same field.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Try to network with people and make others aware of your work using avenues like seminar series, poster symposiums, etc. Interesting opportunities arise as you learn more about the various activities going on around the Lab.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
A whole assortment of things: making models out of clay, painting, playing tennis, playing board games, and traveling.
Learn more about Jaisree:
Biography
August 26, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
LLNL presents enormous opportunities for multi-disciplinary projects that simply couldn't happen in a university setting, at least not easily. While at LLNL, through LDRD, I've had the chance to work closely with the world's best optical, electrical, and computer engineers in multiple directorates.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I'm very excited to have led the development of the LLAMAS adaptive optics system, a state-of-the-art prototype that pushes the limits of adaptive optics compensation in challenging turbulent environments. LLAMAS demonstrates advanced technologies like low-latency computing and control algorithms that will be needed for future extremely large telescopes in astronomy and in other domains.
What is your educational or career background?
I obtained my PhD in astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz, working within the Center for Adaptive Optics. LLNL was a major player in the Center. Following that, I took a Hubble Fellowship at the University of Arizona to study gravitational lensing in galaxy clusters. And I've been at the Lab for ten years.
What inspired you to go into science?
Many of us have looked through small telescopes and then were delighted to see the rings of Saturn or the moons of Jupiter up close. But when I first did so, my excitement quickly became disappointment as atmospheric turbulence blurred the image and prevented me from seeing more details. At an REU at the National Solar Observatory, I discovered these adaptive optics systems that can "fix" the turbulence and bring telescope images into sharp focus. I've been hooked ever since.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Use your postdoctoral years to build relationships beyond your local research group. Some of these can eventually result in new opportunities and open doors. Most of the people reviewing your work and proposals will not be technical experts in your field, so it helps to have a wide network throughout the Lab.
What do you do in your free time?
An unhealthy amount of cycling.
Learn more about Mark:
Biography
August 26, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
At the Lab, I have the opportunity to work on solving problems of national importance, while also pursuing new ideas and my own scientific interests – a win/win! I feel very fortunate that I get to do interesting science for a living while having the opportunity to work on diverse projects with really smart people.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Every day is different. I spend time about half of my time in the lab doing experiments. The other half of my time is spent planning experiments, analyzing data, meeting with colleagues to discuss data, and lots of writing—including grant proposals and manuscripts to report results in scientific journals.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I have worked on many great projects at the Lab but most recently, I am really proud of the work we've done responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lab put together a diverse team of scientists across multiple disciplines and institutions. We have done some nice work predicting drugs and biomolecules that target SARS-CoV-2, and then validated their efficacy in our BSL-3 containment facility using live virus. This work lays the foundation for a rapid response pipeline: going from computational prediction to experimental validation in a few months, which will help us be better prepared to respond to future pandemics.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS in microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics from UCLA and a PhD in molecular cell biology from UC Berkeley. And I've been at the Lab for ten years.
What inspired you to go into science?
I have been interested in science from a very young age. As a kid, I was always investigating something: I spent hours on the ground observing ant behavior, and ruined pots and pans with failed chemistry experiments, etc. When we learned about the immune system in high school biology, I was hooked. I have loved learning about how the immune system responds to infection ever since and have investigated immune responses to a wide variety of pathogens over the course of my career.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Try to talk to as many people as you can about their work, inside and outside your division. You never know what conversations might spark a new idea or collaboration.
What do you do in your free time?
Outside of work, I spend most of my free time with my family. I enjoy hiking, cooking, exercising, and playing sports (I do more watching than playing). I'm looking forward to getting back to traveling and seeing more friends again, hopefully soon!
Learn more about Dina:
Biography
August 19, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I like the opportunities to study the complex climate system, understand the driving mechanisms, and improve the prediction capabilities. We have lots of talented scientists and dynamic collaborations at LLNL. Together we are solving the cutting-edge science questions about climate change.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I apply numerical models and observational data to study climate change. It involves writing code to analyze the data and reporting the results as scientific papers or presentations.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I am leading the development of some components for the DOE climate model. These new model features will substantially improve our capabilities in simulating the climate system.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS and MS in atmospheric sciences, and an MS and PhD in earth system science. I spent about two years as a postdoc at Cornell University before starting at the Lab eight years ago.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy playing soccer, going fishing sometimes, and occasionally free diving.
Learn more about Qi:
Biography
August 19, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I enjoy helping people keep their property records organized. In my role, I get to see lots of different areas and operations around the Lab. It’s very interesting.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I’m here to help PLS employees manage their property assets. This ranges from updating the property database to our annual inventory efforts to helping folks remove excess items they no longer need (and everything in between).
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Take advantage of events like Family Days to see parts of the Lab you don’t during your normal work day. There are so many cool projects happening all the time.
What do you do in your free time?
I like to read. I also enjoy puzzles and board games.
August 13, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I really like that I get to work on so many different projects that are scientifically interesting but also have real-world applications. I've worked on projects, including studying uranium resistance mechanisms by bacteria, genetically engineering microbes to produce host toxic peptides with therapeutic potential, and developing methods for microbial cement curing. I've been lucky to work on these engaging projects with other talented and caring scientists, which makes the Lab a great place to work!
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Day to day, I run experiments, write proposals/reports/publications, and attend meetings.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I'm proud of a recent Laboratory Directed Research and Development project that I led where we looked at producing therapeutic antimicrobial peptides in a bacterial host using an engineered protein cage (encapsulin) system. These peptides are attractive alternatives to conventional antibiotics but their production in bacterial hosts remains challenging because they are toxic and easily degraded by the host. We developed a system to produce these peptides by fusing them to protein cage variants, which allows them to be produced in relatively high quantities in bacteria. We published this work in Biotechnology and Bioengineering and it was highlighted as an Editor's Choice Article.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS in biochemistry from Tufts University and a PhD in biological chemistry from MIT. I did my postdoc at LLNL in environmental microbiology and converted to staff in 2015.
What inspired you to go into science?
I had a wonderful high school chemistry teacher who really sparked my interest in the sciences. During college, I gained an appreciation of the beauty of microbiology, biochemistry, and genetics, which inspired me to pursue a PhD and continue research in these areas.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Get to know people inside and outside of your division. You never know when your paths will cross in the future.
What do you do in your free time?
I love spending time outdoors with my family and reading novels.
Learn more about Mimi:
Biography
August 5, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
The projects we support are important to the success of the Lab’s mission. I find my work very interesting and rewarding in supporting our researchers with regulatory paperwork and approvals, which enables them to focus on their research.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I gather and review complex regulatory requirements, analyze the most efficient method for implementation and make recommendations on how to implement these requirements, and communicate modifications/enhancements/changes to all stakeholders. I monitor and process approvals for research protocols.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
During my time managing the Intuitional Biosafety Committee (IBC), which provides regulatory guidance for all of the biological sciences research at the Lab, and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), we have successfully maintained accreditations and regulatory compliance requirements. We are currently working on the implementation of eProtocol and look forward to managing our research protocols electronically.
What is your educational or career background?
Before coming to the Lab 17 years ago, I worked in the employment industry as a program manager for over 20 years. As a program manager, I managed large temporary staffing programs supporting large corporations. The management of the program included implementation analysis, implementation and ongoing support, and management of the onsite teams. Many of the programs supported had over 200 temporary employees.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I really enjoy project management and meeting the challenges of implementing successful and useful business operations as well as providing comprehensive customer service to those I work with. Managing the Institutional Biosafety Committee and the Animal Care and Use Committee office has provided me the opportunity to use my skills learned in industry.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
When I first started at the Lab, I took the opportunity to get involved in as many projects, meetings, and events as I could. This allowed me to meet a variety of people in many different organizations. One thing I found very helpful was taking a tour of the Lab and going to the visitor center—it really gave me the big picture of how extensive our mission is and the extraordinary capabilities we have at the Lab.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy riding my horse and working with my husband on our cattle ranch here in Livermore. I also travel when possible.
August 5, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
What I like about my job is learning new science that was previously unknown. The moment of discovery is incredibly fulfilling (especially when it is something we never anticipated based on calculations or simulations). The potential for discovering new science is there because much of the research we perform is forefront science. I love that the Lab provides not only an amazing set of tools to perform frontier experiments, but also an ability to build diagnostics that allow us to perform experiments that would be extremely difficult to perform without LLNL resources. Additionally, the ability to walk into the office of world-class experts to get advice on almost any topic makes the Lab an incredible place for all scientific specialties.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
My work varies from day to day. Some days I perform calculations to model spectral output from current experiments or help design new experiments. Other days, I test or prepare equipment for upcoming experiments in the lab. Then other days, I discuss ideas for new experiments with colleagues or work with a graduate student or young scientist in an attempt to pass on as much of what I've learned as possible.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I'm very proud to have worked on the short pulse laser heated buried layer opacity project. It is a platform that has taken many years to develop and ultimately required developing the world’s first sub-picosecond x-ray diagnostic to get data. The platform is unique in its ability to create relatively high-temperature, high-density plasma with minimal spatial gradients. To this end, the platform has carved out a unique density-temperature phase space to study fundamental plasma physics phenomena. Because I was at LLNL while early high-intensity, short-pulse lasers were being developed, I was fortunate enough to be amongst a handful of individuals around the world to work on the concept.
What is your educational or career background?
I earned a BSE in nuclear engineering and an MS and PhD in plasma physics from the University of Michigan. I’ve worked at the Lab for 34 years.
What inspired you to go into science?
I was fascinated by stars, which led to an interest in the physical processes of how stars evolve.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
For young scientists, build a portfolio of Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD). Try to gauge the topics that are in vogue by attending meetings and discussing ideas with the programs. If you submit an LDRD one year and it's not funded, write a new LDRD the following year and submit that, but keep the previous year's LDRD at hand. And if (eventually) topics you've based your LDRDs on become popular, resubmit your idea. Building a portfolio of written LDRDs helps new scientist understand the LDRD process and simplifies the proposal submission procedure.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy science fiction, sports cars, independent films, trying to learn about basic physical phenomena (inertia is a current interest), and sports (college football, basketball, and women's soccer). I’m also a member of the African American Body of Laboratory Employees.
July 15, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I like solving new problems and having access to experts across many fields of science which can provide new insights.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
About half of my day is usually dedicated to running experiments and collecting data, whether it’s discovering something new about our systems, or simply figuring out why something is not working. The other half goes into data analysis, research, and of course, meetings and management stuff.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I was really proud to have worked on a project in which we demonstrated the use of machine learning to help improve our quantum processors. It was a fun new project for me that combined a good amount of data processing along with collecting the experimental data.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BA and a PhD in physics. I received my BA from UC Berkeley and my PhD from UC Merced.
What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?
Actually, I started as a business economics major. But I have always been curious about understanding the world around me. In college, I would read basic science articles, especially about light...until one day a friend suggested I take a physics course. So I did and could not get enough. I kept taking more physics courses until I ended up with a PhD in physics. Now, instead of taking courses, I get to learn from scientific talks, or, at least try to.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Ask for help if you need it. Go to talks and get to know people, especially people outside your field. Get involved in a networking club.
What do you do in your free time?
I like fixing things—I am currently trying to rebuild my 1986 Trans Am. I also like sports and recently got into mountain biking. And I am a member of Amigos Unidos Hispanics in Partnership.
Learn more about Luis:
Biography
July 15, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I absolutely love the people I get to work with and the science that we get to do that impacts both national security and public health. The collaborative environment at the Lab is really energizing—I love working with scientists that bring different perspectives from my own. It makes me a better researcher and really helps me focus my ideas.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Day to day, you will find me in various labs conducting experiments and in meetings planning future experiments and discussing the latest data.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I have worked with colleagues on nanoparticle vaccines for a number of years. We have developed a strong program around this technology for vaccine applications and that is very gratifying. Our projects are focused on developing vaccines for both national security and public health.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS degree in zoology with an emphasis on comparative vertebrate anatomy. I took my first immunology class in graduate school and that was it. I switched majors and never looked back. I’ve worked at the Lab for 16 years.
What inspired you to go into science?
Science has always been my favorite subject. It has always fed my curiosity and continues to do so. Immunology is one of the most fascinating fields and so fundamental to the life sciences. The human immune system is essential for our survival in a world full of potentially dangerous microbes and understanding how it works and interacts with other systems is paramount for human health.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Get out there and make connections! The Lab has so much to offer—start networking early and take advantage of the expertise and collaborative environment to further refine and expand your skill set.
What do you do in your free time?
I love to travel and be outdoors.
Learn more about Amy:
Biography
July 8, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
Our projects always aim to answer major national or global concerns. The work never seems trivial or mundane. Best of all, I get to work with diverse groups of experts from a variety of scientific fields.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
On a typical day, I go to meetings, read new scientific literature, and develop models that simulate behavior of complex biological systems. The meetings involve discussions with colleagues about the progress of our projects and our future goals. It could also involve mentoring postdocs and summer graduate students. While I relish developing genome-scale models of biosystems, I also enjoy developing new modeling methodologies.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I'm proud of all the work that I've done at LLNL. As I said before, all of our projects aim to tackle important problems. However, my favorite project was developing a genome-scale model of metabolism in Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of bubonic plague. It was the first-ever model of a CDC category A pathogen. Using a slide that showed bubonic plague has been responsible for more human death than all human wars combined was the best attention getter I've ever used in any of my presentations.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS in chemistry from the University of Maryland, an MS in inorganic physical chemistry from University of North Dakota, and a PhD in biophysical chemistry from Indiana University. After graduate school, I spent two years as a postdoctoral scholar at Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco modeling and examining the regeneration of rhodopsin in human rods. I have been at LLNL since 2006.
What inspired you to go into science?
As a teenager, I was fascinated with the use of radiocarbon dating to study the age of historical artifacts. Early on as an undergrad I decided to study radiochemistry. However, I quickly realized that I loved physical chemistry more and changed my specialty. When I went to graduate school at Indiana University, I decided to make biophysical chemistry my focus. One day my supervisor showed me a map of the metabolic pathways and asked: “How would you like developing a mathematical model of this?” I loved the complexity of the problem and knew immediately that I had found my scientific passion.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Don't be afraid to try new things. If you don't get out of your comfort zone, you will not learn and grow. The Lab is interested in your potential just as much as your experience and skillset. Most important of all, use your early years to develop an expansive network that includes contacts in various Lab directorates.
What do you do in your free time?
I'm a father of two, so my favorite activity is spending time with my wife and kids. I also enjoy hiking, playing soccer, gardening, playing Civilization, watching hockey, and rooting for my beloved Washington Capitals.
Learn more about Ali:
Biography
July 8, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I love that I get to meet and help all kinds of people with their work. I support a group of around 25 physicists, and it's a pleasure to help them with tasks of all shapes and sizes so that their day is a little easier on the non-scientific end of things. I also work with a great administrative group. They are always ready to lend a helping hand and take a minute to answer my questions. I'm fortunate to work with so many wonderful people. I'm also learning new things all the time, and I love applying these new skills to my job every day. I love the work-life balance this job has afforded me too. Between the flexible schedule and being able to use the gym on site, I feel like I have time to do everything I need to do—both at work and outside of work—without feeling burned out.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I provide administrative support to a group of physicists in the Nuclear and Chemical Sciences (NACS) Division of PLS. I help arrange domestic and foreign travel, seminars or talks, and occasionally larger meetings or conferences. I also help set up collaborations and coordinate travel with individuals my group has invited to visit the Lab. I coordinate interviews when the group does any hiring and help with the onboarding of new hires and summer students as well.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BA in literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). Prior to LLNL, I worked on the sales floor at Target. After I graduated from UCSC, I started working at LLNL in 2018 as a student intern in HR. Once the internship ended, I started my current job as an administrative specialist in NACS.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Don't be afraid to ask questions! There is so much to learn at the Lab, and it can seem a bit intimidating at first. But once you start reaching out, you'll see that everyone is friendly and often willing to lend a helping hand. Don't be afraid to check out a networking group or take advantage of the gym and the classes that LLESA offers. They're loads of fun and a great way to meet new people.
What do you do in your free time?
I love to read, roller skate, cross stich and embroider, sew, hike, watch a good show or movie, and spend time with family and friends.
June 25, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I enjoy the challenge of researching impactful biological mysteries. The Lab is great at providing a supportive and collaborative environment for me to accomplish state-of-the-art research.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I perform molecular and cellular biology research in support of numerous biology projects ranging from cancer response to chemotherapeutics to how genes affect the development and homeostasis of the human body. You will find me alternating between the lab, where I conduct lab work, and my office, where I interpret the data.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS in microbiology from UC Davis, an MS in molecular biology from CSU East Bay, and I am currently enrolled in a PhD program at UC Merced in quantitative and systems biology. I’ve worked at the Lab for 11 years.
What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?
I've always been enamored with puzzles. The dedication and focus required to work through solving a jigsaw puzzle or Rubik's cube are the same skills I utilize in solving biological mysteries. Through a lot of support from colleagues and mentors, I was inspired to apply my tendencies to bigger puzzles that can impact people’s health.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
The Lab is an exciting work environment that has many incredible people and resources available to support your development. Don't be shy about exploring other projects or departments.
What do you do in your free time?
I like to cook, run, spend time with my family, and convince my kids that scientists are cooler than superheroes.
Learn more about Nick:
Biography
June 25, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
The thing that I enjoy the most about being a scientist at the Lab is that our work is ever-changing. We utilize our knowledge to push science further and further, solve problems quicker, and everything we learn along the way is very enriching. With such a broad range of topics and projects that we can get involved in and help with, our work continues to be challenging, encouraging, and really fun. I am fortunate enough to collaborate with exceptional scientists, engineers, technicians, and administrators that together make the Lab a great place to work.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
My day-to-day activities involve data analysis, detector simulations, publication writing, and postdoc and student mentoring. A few times a year, I travel to various national facilities to perform experiments or present our results at various workshops and conferences.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I work on a team that developed a method to measure very precisely the probability of gamma-radiation emission from beta decays of fission products. This information is important to guide nuclear fission models, as well as for nuclear applications and stockpile stewardship. I am very proud of my work on this project as it has an impact on basic science and the Lab’s mission, but also, because it taught me how much work and patience precision measurements require. I feel very happy to be able to gain so much experience working with world-class precision-measurements decay experts. I am looking forward to continuing these measurements and applying my expertise to solve other problems.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS in physics from the University of Warsaw (Poland), an MS in physics from the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), and a PhD in nuclear physics from the University of Paris South (France). Before I joined the Lab in 2015, I worked as a postdoc at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where I performed nuclear structure studies of radioactive isotopes. At LLNL, I am a member of the Nuclear and Particle Physics Group and I study radioactive decays and nuclear reactions.
What inspired you to go into science?
I always really enjoyed studying physics and math in school, which was my first motivator to major in physics without, at that time, really knowing what I would do when I graduated. I remember the breakthrough moment in making that decision happened during a trip organized by my university colleagues to visit various national laboratories in Germany, where for the first time, I was exposed to purely scientific environments and met scientists who worked on creating and studying new radioactive elements for living. I found it extremely fascinating and there was no doubt that this was going to be my career path. Today, I use state-of-the-art detectors at the radioactive beam facilities to produce, measure, and interpret data on unstable isotopes that helps us understand reactions that happen in star explosions and how our universe was created. Sounds like a down-to-earth job to me!
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
As important as it is to spend your time executing the tasks you were hired to accomplish, do not forget to sometimes step out of our comfort zone and get to know your colleagues from the group and across various divisions. You will be amazed to hear about the broad and exciting science they all do. I can assure you that they will be more than happy to share their knowledge, experience, and advice with you.
What do you do in your free time?
I really enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, biking, running, and playing tennis. Traveling is a big passion as well. I like visiting new places and learning about other cultures. I’m also a member of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women’s Association.
Learn more about Kay:
Biography
May 28, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I like the diversity of projects I am exposed to and involved in. The Lab is a big place, and as I like to tell people I meet at recruiting events, regardless of your field of expertise, the Lab has a directorate/division/group for you! The breadth of work done at the Lab and the contributions that are made to so many different fields is impressive. I also genuinely like our moto—science and technology on a mission. I think it is rewarding to assist on projects and programs that are relevant to us all.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I spend most of my day in front of a computer running numerical simulations, debugging codes, writing scripts and the like, and reading articles. The rest of the time, I attend meetings to discuss given projects with colleagues, or seminars. These days, as I am PI on a project, I also have to dedicate a portion of the day to managing and reporting.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
It’s actually a project that I am the PI on and that just started. Our team is assessing the practical use of seismoelectric effects for geothermal resources monitoring in an integrating approach using numerical modeling, laboratory experiments, and ultimately field experiments. It’s an international team with colleagues in France and Norway. I am particularly excited because I thought about exploiting and modeling seismoelectric effects, which are subsurface pore scale phenomena related to seismic-to-electric conversion, as a natural next step following a project I worked on as a postdoc just before joining the Lab ten years ago. Fast forward six years, and I was awarded a LDRD Lab wide, an internal funding program, to numerically model these phenomena. Building on that work, I am now collaborating with a multidisciplinary team to move what is still a novel technique to the next level of practical use. It doesn’t get more exciting!
What is your educational or career background?
My background isn’t linear, as I am originally a chemical engineer who went on to pursue a PhD in geophysics, with a thesis on geodynamical modeling of Earth mantle convection and its interaction with the lithosphere, in France. Over the course of my subsequent postdocs and research associate position, in Canada and the US, I changed the scale of my focus from modeling Earth mantle convection to modeling tectonic deformation at the crustal scale, and finally, to simulating seismic wave propagation to probe the subsurface. I joined the Lab ten years ago and focus my work on using both seismic and electromagnetic modeling for geophysical imaging and monitoring.
What inspired you to go into science?
I always liked STEM in general and how science helps us understand the world around us and how things work. Paradoxically, I like the level of certainty associated with science, but also the questioning and unknown that is part of a researcher’s life. It’s also this balance between having a specialized knowledge and keeping a beginner’s mindset to solve problems.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Be curious. The Lab is a great place to be exposed to a wide range of disciplines and programs. My experience is that all levels, from colleagues, supervisors, group leaders, and up, are eager to help and assist, so don’t hesitate to show up, speak up, and reach out.
What do you do in your free time?
I like reading, watching movies (yes, I am a Marvel person), and enjoying the many diverse and excellent cuisines in the Bay Area. My wife is a theater nerd, so I also get dragged to plays and musicals…a lot. I am also a member of the African American Body of Laboratory Employees and on the leadership team of Livermore Pride. I am particularly passionate with the inclusive and educative work we have started with Livermore Pride this past year on pronoun usage in the workplace.
Learn more about Christina:
Biography
May 28, 2021
What do you like about working at the Lab?
Working at the Lab is almost never boring. Every day comes with exciting new challenges to solve, fresh information to explore, and interesting new people to interact with–often on something you never dreamed you'd be thinking about! I'm in high-energy-density plasma physics (or, "What happens to stuff when it gets REALLY hot?"), which contributes to the development of fusion (clean future energy), understanding stars (basic science), and the stockpile stewardship mission (defense & national service)—that's a fun combination!
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Email and meetings! I attend meetings about planning and executing large laser experiments, analyze data, and discuss the results to better understand the properties of hot, dense matter. My work involves lots of interdisciplinary teamwork and creative problem solving as well as mentoring and supporting younger staff working on related experiments. I also still manage to do real hands-on work on a NIF diagnostic for our experiment.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
There are a lot of great projects, but the high point so far has been working on the "Opacity-on-NIF" campaign, a series of experiments that our national team built from scratch to understand how X-rays get absorbed as they pass through a sample of hot, dense plasma that we create. Creating the sample is a combination of baking and photography: the NIF beams heat up a "laser oven" (called a hohlraum), the sample inside the oven gets hot and expands a bit, and then we use more NIF beams to make an x-ray flashbulb and shine the light through the sample. The pride comes after wrestling with many challenges, when the measurements finally start to work and make sense, and we begin seeing things that no one's ever looked at before.
What is your educational or career background?
I received a bachelor's in physics and a PhD in astrophysical sciences. After completing a postdoc fellowship, I became an LLNL staff physicist and currently serve as a senior scientist. I’ve been at the Lab for 21 years.
What inspired you to go into science?
I'm an "accidental physicist." I had no idea what to major in when I got to college, so I started with math and physics since they kept all my options open if I changed my mind. As I explored, I found that I liked math, physics, philosophy, and computer science, but I got along best with the physics classes and students, so it stuck!
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
The Lab is full of opportunities for those who keep building their skills and contributing wherever they can. And it pays to treat everyone well—you never know who will be on your next team.
What do you do in your free time?
Free time? Working parents don’t get much free time, but I enjoy helping my kids with school, activities, and sports. I enjoy playing tennis and COVID encouraged me to take more time for personal fitness, so I joined the LLESA tennis group. My other hobbies are investing, games, hiking, the occasional movie, and reading (particularly sci-fi, fantasy adventures, and history).
Learn more about Bob:
Biography
December 1, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
As a materials scientist, I appreciate the challenges brought by the broad range of materials and applications of interest to LLNL.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I conduct research in metals additive manufacturing. My routine activities include mentoring postdocs, leading materials manufacturing and characterization efforts, and providing scientific expertise on review panels and technology realization teams.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I’m very proud of LLNL’s efforts toward manufacturing modernization. We aggressively develop and prove-in technologies to ensure NNSA manufactures metals in a fiscally responsible and environmentally-conscious manner.
What is your educational background?
I have a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Southern California and a PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of Delaware.
What inspired you to go into science?
I have always been inspired by space exploration. My exposure to space camps and visits to various NASA centers sparked my interest at a young age.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Familiarize yourself with LLNL’s core mission areas and strive to understand your sponsor’s needs.
What do you do in your free time?
I spend my free time with my spouse and children.
Are you a member of any employee resource groups (ERGs)?
I’m a member of the Asian Pacific American Council and the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women’s Association, but I enjoy interacting with all the ERGs and have had the opportunity to do so through a recent diversity and initiative campaign. The brightest minds at the Lab and most conscientious individuals can be found in these groups of people who volunteer their time to improve the culture of the Lab.
Learn more about Amanda:
Biography
November 17, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
There is so much opportunity in the Lab to pursue new research directions. I love that my work and research has evolved so much in only two years, and that I’ve been able to work on so many different projects. It is also amazing to be surrounded by people who are world-wide experts in their field and to have so many resources onsite that allow us to do cutting-edge work. It’s really incredible to be able to work on teams with these experts and to learn from them.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
My days vary greatly week to week. Some weeks I’m at my desk working up data, attending meetings, or coordinating with collaborators on how to move forward the work that needs to be done. Other weeks, I find myself in lab most of the time, setting up and performing experiments or characterizing the materials after the experiment has finished. Sometimes, I’ll be traveling for an experiment at another national lab or at a research conference. I like having a mix of hands-on research responsibilities in the lab and more computer-based project management responsibilities.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy running, downhill skiing, hiking, cooking, and traveling. Recently, I’ve been taking on DIY projects, like trying to use reclaimed wood to make something useful. I spend a lot of time in the garden trying to grow fruits and vegetables. I’m a member of the Organic Gardening Networking Group at the Lab.
What is your educational or career background?
I received my BS in materials chemistry from University of California, Los Angeles. While I was there, I worked with the thermoelectric materials group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. That’s where I really fell in love with research, and it’s what seeded my desire to return to a national lab. I went on to do my PhD at Northwestern University, where I tried to make new materials at high pressure conditions. This work eventually led me to seek a postdoctoral position here!
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
This is a tough one right now. I’d typically say try to meet new people by going to events or just showing up to the cafeteria and asking to sit at a random table. Or email someone you’ve met once to see if they want to get lunch or a coffee. Right now, when much of the Lab is working from home and managing other responsibilities that have come with this new normal, this is more difficult, and a WebEx lunch may not even be possible for some. I guess my advice right now would be to stay strong, reach out to those on your team and in your group to stay connected, and once things go back to normal, let’s get lunch!
Learn more about Samantha:
Biography
November 10, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I like the intellectual stimulation I feel from analyzing data and from interacting with all the smart people at the Lab.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Running meetings, coordinating/reviewing other people’s work, mentoring scientists, and analyzing data.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I’m really proud to have worked on hot hohlraums.
What is your educational background?
I have a PhD in physics from Cornell University.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
In 3rd grade, my twin sister was in a play about planets (she played Earth). I learned that the position of Neptune was predicted by calculation—I fell in love with science then.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Find something you love to do.
What do you do in your free time?
Mild jogging (I am old), keeping in touch with family, and walking my dog. I’m a member of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women’s Association.
November 2, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I feel a great pride and drive to work on problems that are important to our national security. And I enjoy the people I work with tremendously. I think those two things make working at LLNL great. I also enjoy working on real problems that challenge me scientifically and allow me to foster new solutions with technical rigor.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I’m the director of materials compatibility, and I lead a team of scientists and engineers in assessing the long-term stability and chemical compatibility of material assemblies. My kids say, “you sure do spend a lot of time in meetings!” and they’re right because I spent a lot of my time talking to the technical experts in materials and compatibility to answer technical questions from our weapons programs. It is a desk job where I talk to people in meetings or on the phone, email a lot, prepare presentations, manage budgets, and schedule activities. Sometimes I travel to conferences or meetings at other national labs. Underneath all that is the bigger goal of developing new capabilities and working to solve challenging materials compatibility problems.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
My proudest accomplishment has been launching the Reaction Sorption and Transport (ReSorT) modeling toolkit and building a team of scientists and engineers to foster and grow this modeling and experimental capability. This capability is designed to predict service lifetimes of material assemblies that may age due to material out-gassing and gas-incompatibility issues. We recently tested our model against aging data and found a great match between experiments and models.
What is your educational or career background?
I earned a BA in chemistry from Carleton College (Northfield, Minnesota) and a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. I spent a year at Los Alamos National Laboratory between undergraduate and graduate school, and I came to LLNL directly from graduate school. I’ve worked at the Lab for 14 years.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I knew I’d be a scientist as long as I can remember; both parents and most of my grandparents were scientists, engineers, doctors, and nurses, so this seemed like the obvious choice. I chose chemistry in undergraduate because I just loved it. I still find it magical and immensely profound that the universe is made up of very simple particles and the only difference between all the tangible things in our universe is how they’re arranged. I chose physical chemistry because it was the only class in undergraduate that truly challenged me—I guess I just wanted to dig deeper and understand the magic of quantum chemistry.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Ask for help and update people around you regularly. If you’re struggling, you may need to bounce ideas off of someone else. If you’re doing great things, you have to tell people so that they can understand what you’ve accomplished.
What do you do in your free time?
I love spending time with my kids. They are funny and clever and ask questions that force me to see the world in new ways, and I’m so proud when I see them accomplish new things that they learned on their own or through us. I love to run; I’ve been running since I was 11 years old. I’ve found that everything is better after a run. I also enjoy cooking, and I really like to travel (especially when I get to run in new places and when my kids come along).
Learn more about Libby:
Biography
November 2, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
In a broad sense, I like working at the Lab because of the breadth of research, programs, and people that we have the opportunity to engage with or get exposure to. Over the course of my career at the Lab, I have worked in at least four quite distinct jobs across three directorates and two large programs. I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on such a wide array of projects while at the same time interacting with a wide variety of people across numerous disciplines. It continues to make things very interesting.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I work on a system life extension program in the weapons program. I manage a group of chemistry staff and projects that are focused on characterizing and understanding materials properties and degradation mechanisms in an array of extreme environments. I am very fortunate to have an amazing team of really enthusiastic and talented scientists that lead these complex chemistry studies. There is a great deal of interaction amongst engineers, chemists, and physicists as we proceed through each series of tests and try to figure out what the data is telling us.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
The one that stands out is the so-called “plutonium aging” project. I was part of a very large, cross-disciplinary team that mirrored a similar team at Los Alamos and had high visibility back at NNSA headquarters and beyond. This was one of the cornerstone projects in the beginning of science-based stockpile stewardship. Besides studying and learning about many aspects of plutonium science, we delivered some very important results and conclusions that were used to help shape stockpile decisions for the future.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Michigan, and my technical areas of focus are in x-ray absorption spectroscopy and actinide chemistry. I spent part of my graduate work at Los Alamos and performed countless experiments at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. That work led to a joint postdoc appointment with Lawrence Berkeley Lab, an added concentration on x-ray studies applied to actinide systems, and ultimately to a career appointment at LLNL. I’ve worked at LLNL for 30 years.
What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?
I had always liked science and math growing up, and I was actually interested in nuclear energy at a young age. I started out college initially in engineering and surveyed a few other disciplines before converging on chemistry. The draw and migration out to the Department of Energy labs, the West coast, and nuclear disciplines sort of happened accidentally though, perhaps by fate.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Explore as much as you can, and keep your mind and options open. Stay flexible and don’t be afraid to change.
What do you do in your free time?
In my spare time, I do a lot of cycling around the Bay area. I mostly do road biking, and I like long rides into the mountains. I also enjoy traveling, seeing other countries. I follow some professional sports too, but I’m not too fanatical about that.
Learn more about Patrick:
Biography
October 27, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I like the interdisciplinary environment of the Lab. People with different scientific and cultural backgrounds come together to work on projects that have a “grand challenge” character. Teams are effectively working together towards a common goal. The uniqueness of many projects allows for a good mixture between fundamental science and application.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Lab work (material synthesis and characterization), organizing and attending meetings, writing and reading many emails, reading literature, and writing papers, reports, and proposals
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
One of my first projects at the Lab was to develop a process to dope diamond with mid/high Z elements. I am proud of this because now basically every diamond capsule that is shot at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is doped. Doping diamond enabled record yields at NIF.
What is your educational and career background?
I have a master’s in physics and a Dr. rer. nat in physical chemistry. I worked in industry (Siemens Semiconductors) as an engineer for 5 years, and I’ve worked at the Lab for 13 years.
What inspired you to go into science?
While I was working as an engineer, there was never time to ask questions and look deeper into any issues. That was a bit frustrating for me, so I decided to go back to university and became a scientist.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
I would advise new employees to reach out to other people and take advantage of the interdisciplinary environment here at the Lab. There are many bright people out here that are happy to help.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy outdoor activities with my family, like hiking, camping, and climbing or horseback riding. I also like playing the piano and yoga. I’m a member of the yoga employee networking group at the Lab.
Learn more about Monika:
Biography
October 27, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I like that there are constant challenges to work on (and problems to troubleshoot), great people to bother with questions, and an environment that largely encourages learning and innovation.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I primarily work on understanding material properties under dynamic compression, so on a great day, I’m hitting things with giant lasers in a lab. On a normal (but still pretty good) day, I do lots of planning and lots of technical data analysis of the measurements taken during the aforementioned giant laser experiments. I usually attend a few meetings, and then try to sneak in some paper reading/writing if I can manage it.
What is your educational and career background?
I got my AB (artium baccalaureus, because everything is fancier in Latin) in chemistry at Bryn Mawr College in 2009, and then my PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in physical chemistry in 2015, working for Prof. Raymond Jeanloz. I actually worked at the Lab as a grad student, starting in about 2010, in the Shock Physics Group (since renamed the Dynamic Material Properties Group and very recently split into two groups), eventually getting hired as a postdoc and then staff. Over the course of my grad work, I gradually shifted more towards high pressure physics, and that is where I’ve ended up today.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I enjoy learning and problem solving, and I had a pretty good idea that I wanted to go into research as I was starting college. As to how I specifically ended up in high pressure physics, I can actually trace that to an article in Physics World written in 2009: “Planets under pressure,” which I read while trying to decide between research groups. I thought the work was really cool, and upon realizing that the author was a professor at UC Berkeley, I asked to join his group.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Ask questions. My experience has been that, despite all of my anxiety around asking, people at the Lab are generally very happy to answer questions and talk about their work. This is also a great way to find new projects and meet new people for collaborations.
What do you do in your free time?
Roughly in order of how much of my time is involved: managing a small cat army, reading, playing video games, messing with (read: repairing) my car, and cheesemaking.
October 20, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I like that I am constantly learning new things. It’s frustrating sometimes to never really feel like I know what I’m doing, but also quite exciting. I feel extremely lucky to be able to work on so many interesting projects, and I really enjoy all my colleagues.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Mostly I make PowerPoint slides: slides with pictures of target designs, slides with experimental layouts, slides summarizing results. So many slides! I also go to a lot of meetings (WebEx now!) and exchange a lot of emails with the various teams I work with to make experiments happen: the people who design the experiment, the people who run the facilities, the people who make the targets, and the various managers and science stakeholders. I try to spend at least a little time analyzing data and working on a paper every day.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I think I’m most proud of my team’s effort to field x-ray diffraction experiments on the National Ignition Facility. It’s been a long time coming to reach complete fruition, but I had the opportunity to be involved almost from the beginning, and it’s been fascinating to watch and participate in this process. We’ve taken over 100 shots, and now the data can be really beautiful....I still get very excited with every shot.
What is your educational and career background?
I studied engineering physics at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and got my PhD in condensed matter physics from the University of California, Davis. I did a postdoc at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, DC, and another at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission in France before joining the Lab in 2010.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
It seemed cool and hard—a fun thing to tell strangers you do for a living.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Try to meet a lot of people and find out what they do. There are just so many opportunities and so much interesting stuff going on.
What do you do in your free time?
I like doing things with my kids, cooking, baking, going on hikes, listening to audiobooks, and memorizing poetry.
October 20, 2020
What do you like about your job?
What I love about my job is the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team who keeps me constantly learning. Also, I love the mission of our team, which is to look after the public safety in case of an event where hazardous material is released into the atmosphere.
What is your educational background?
I earned my BA in geography from the University of Puerto Rico. Then I completed both my MS and PhD in meteorology and atmospheric sciences from Pennsylvania State University.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Search for all the different resources and opportunities that the Lab provides and do not hesitate to ask questions or to seek help from your different colleagues.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
During hurricane season, I remember watching the forecast and the efforts made by the local meteorologists to inform the public so that everybody could take safety measures during that kind of event. I pursued my career as an atmospheric scientist with the same goal; in the future, I too was going to be able to look after the public safety and contribute to the improvement of the different tools used to inform the public about any atmospheric event.
What do you do in your free time?
In my free time, I like to listen to music, go to concerts, dance, or go for a walk.
September 29, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I genuinely enjoy helping others, and if I can make life a little easier for someone and know that I can be depended on, then I’m glad I can be a part of it. I’ve had positive experiences since working at the Lab, first, my mentor/trainer/supervisor made my onboarding experience a breeze and was always super helpful with everything. Also, if I have to reach out to someone, either within or outside of my division, I find that people here are down to earth, approachable, and willing to help. I also think the type of work that the Lab does is amazing and mind-boggling. Supporting and working with these intelligent people makes me very proud to be part of this workforce.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I act as the administrative point of contact for the division leader of the Materials Science Division (MSD), helping with daily interactions and administrative matters internally and externally. My support includes addressing and communicating day-to-day matters, managing complex calendars, and organizing in-person, video, audio, and web conferences, workshops, and tours. In addition, I am the MSD timekeeper point of contact and work to ensure approximately 400 staff members’ timecards are submitted on a weekly basis and address any questions that anyone should have.
What is your career background?
My past work experiences include: an optometry office, a civil engineering firm, and an oil/energy business in global human resources assisting supervisors and managers to extend expatriate job offers (which consisted of maintaining highly confidential information). During this time, I had the opportunity to lead a team in the US, overseeing the process whilst working with our counterparts from another country.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Ask questions. Get to the know the business and understand processes so you can make better use of your time and become more efficient. Don’t expect to know everything about the Lab within a month’s time because there is so much to learn. Most importantly, communicate with your supervisor and colleagues and share your knowledge because this helps to create a positive atmosphere and a great team dynamic.
What do you do in your free time?
I love spending time with my husband and our two adult daughters, attending social gatherings, and laughing with my huge extended family. I also really enjoy kickboxing workouts, camping, eating out, and hanging out with my dog!
August 31, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
As a scientist, every day brings something new, sometimes exciting and sometimes challenging. LLNL provides a wonderful platform for me to pursue not only science but also applications of science.
What is your educational or career background?
BSc and PhD in experimental particle physics.
What inspired you to go into science?
I enjoy thinking about new problems and attempting to solve problems.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I am an experimental particle physicist hunting for rare particle interactions. My usual work activities include reading about new progresses in the field, discussing ideas with other scientists, developing and testing particle detection instruments, analyzing data, and preparing papers and presentations to explain my work.
What do you do in your free time?
I think about the application of science in everyday life, both at the technological level and the sociological level. And I try to explain my thoughts to my 3-year old daughter, who asks one hundred “whys” every day.
Learn more about Jingke:
Biography
August 26, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I feel fortunate that at the Lab I can work on fundamental discovery as well as the application of the gained new understanding to the solution of important problems. I also like very much interacting with and bouncing ideas off very smart people excited about what they do every day.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
A mix of data analysis, research planning, project management and coordination with collaborating institutions, interaction with sponsors, mentoring of new team members, and report and publication writing.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
The project I am most proud of is the development of a “second skin material” that provides high comfort and smart protection against chemical and biological threats. This ongoing project started about 7 years ago as a concept based on fundamental material discovery, and it has progressed over time toward demonstration of more applied goals to deliver solutions of a long-standing problem in the protective garments area. The hope is that, one day, this work will translate into tangible benefits to the community.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and I came to the Lab in 2006 after completing a one-year postdoc at SRI International. After two years at LLNL as a postdoc, I became a staff scientist.
What inspired you to go into science?
I cannot really pinpoint a defining moment that drove me to science. I always enjoyed science and choosing this path felt like a natural consequence.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Networking is important, and take advantage of the many development opportunities that the Lab provides, from postdoc development time to presentation/writing seminars.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy hiking, playing pool, watching soccer (yes, my Italian genes are to blame here!), and occasionally kayaking and playing table tennis.
Learn more about Francesco:
Biography
August 26, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I like the intellectual challenge of trying to invent and optimize an experimental procedure to solve open problems. With many resources both in terms of facilities and highly skilled staff, the Lab is a great place to do challenging experimental science. The Lab is also the leading institution worldwide in my area of research, which uses giant lasers to generate extreme conditions of pressures and temperatures in very brief pulses. This is THE place to do science at the frontiers!
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I sometimes go to our target preparation laboratory to do hands-on work, but my work is mostly behind my computer and through web meetings. Our experiments on giant lasers like the National Ignition Facility (NIF) involve large teams of people including scientists, engineers, and technicians. Coordinating and choreographing all these activities takes a lot of energy and attention.
I also wear quite a few hats: in addition to leading experiments on Omega and NIF and writing computer code to design experiments and analyze data, I lead a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project, help people design and analyze their experiments with NIF’s VISAR diagnostic, and mentor students, postdocs, and early career scientists. This makes for busy days!
A big fraction of my research targets the inertial confinement fusion effort at the Lab, so I keep up with what others are doing in that area. Finally, as a member of the scientific community, I do synergistic activities like peer-reviewing articles and research grants as well as reaching out through media interviews, NIF tours, and scientific networking.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Go meet people in other areas to learn about what they are doing. Tour the facilities onsite such as NIF. Learn about the Lab’s missions.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
Overall, I like to think that my contributions are helping the grand challenge of getting ignition at NIF. On a smaller scale, I was fortunate to discover the superionic water ice phase using dynamic compression. Despite the many challenges in designing the experiments, analyzing the data, and getting the work published, this work gathered quite a bit of attention and has been rewarding.
What is your educational or career background?
I studied physics back in France. My PhD was in condensed matter physics, developing new experiments under high pressure and pulsed magnetic fields. I started collaborating with LLNL when I moved to Berkeley to complete my postdoc. I’ve worked at LLNL for 6 years.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I like physics as a tool to explain what surrounds us and how things work in general. How I got into laser-driven compression is serendipity, but I really enjoy it because studying the properties of matter at extreme pressures and temperatures is an expanding area of research with many applications, in particular for planetary science and astronomy. We can recreate the conditions inside planets and stars in the laboratory!
What do you do in your free time?
I like outdoor activities like cycling, running, and hiking. A lot of my creative breakthroughs happen during my lunch bike rides in the hills around Livermore! I also like cooking and baking bread.
Learn more about Marius:
Biography | Spotlight article
August 10, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I enjoy the opportunity to solve materials physics problems in support of national security missions. Experimental, condensed-matter physics offers a wealth of emergent phenomenon, like many branches of physics, but the experiments are often more accessible, permitting rapid hypothesis development and testing. The Lab is serious about solving problems in its broad mission space, so I have had the opportunity to perform research with cutting-edge tools and world-renowned experts, which is a truly exciting way to spend and build a career.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
Several years ago, I proposed a research project to examine actinide-bearing quantum materials. I am proud of that project for several reasons:
- It allowed me to recruit a top-notch postdoc who is still at the Lab contributing to critical problems.
- It helped to put the finishing touches on a tailored materials synthesis lab that now supports myriad programs across multiple directorates at the Lab.
- Several graduate students, all of whom have taken postdoctoral positions at national labs, performed portions of their thesis under its auspices.
- It produced a number of high-quality papers that reinforced the Lab’s reputation of expertise in actinide science and condensed-matter physics.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I first became fascinated with physics in high school. I read Kip Thorne’s Black Holes and Time Warps, and I was hooked on the concept of exploring nature and figuring out how the universe works; astrophysics and cosmology were my introduction to the broad field of physics.
Once I started studying physics, I “discovered” that condensed-matter physics was as rich with weird ideas and objects as astrophysics/cosmology, but these things were much closer to home. I could touch a sample, measure its properties in the laboratory, and then perturb that and do it all over again to see what changed. This was flat-out cool, and it seemed like I could find much less enjoyable pursuits—so a condensed-matter physicist I became.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS in physics from Clemson University in South Carolina, and a PhD in physics from the University of California, San Diego. I took a postdoctoral position at LLNL after graduating with my PhD, and I was converted to a staff member working on actinide materials physics and metallurgy. My career path at the Lab has been one of basic and applied science with cross-disciplinary reach. Over time, I gradually shifted from a role of a worker in a Lab to a technical project manager.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
My daily work scope generally revolves around technical project management. I manage the technical scope and interactions of interdisciplinary groups of scientists engaged in theoretical and experimental research into materials compatibility, component failure, thermophysical properties, mechanical behavior, and chemical change. These seemingly disparate fields overlap in many mission spaces, and those overlaps are often areas where gaps in our understanding become obvious and need to be addressed. Aligning the “right” group of experts to fill in these gaps is both challenging and rewarding.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
My advice is really for a new scientist at the Lab: The Lab is a big academic ecosystem in a small footprint. Take advantage of the wide variety of research and tools by collaborating with others on new topics. If you’ve taken a postdoc position here that follows along the path of your graduate studies, then use some of your time to do something different. If you’ve taken a postdoc in a new field, see if you can spend some of your time working on your old field with Lab researchers. You will meet new people, learn new techniques, and you will become a broader and better scientist.
What do you do in your free time?
I am a father and a husband, which means my free time is often spent with the “business” of a family. Part of that responsibility, which is probably a hobby, is being a handyman with car repair, home repair, plumbing repair, etc. When younger, I played guitar and I still have one acoustic guitar. The coronavirus pandemic gave me the time and locality to pick up the guitar once again and try to accompany my son’s piano.
Learn more about Jason:
Biography
August 3, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
My two favorite things about working at the lab are the missions and the teams. I love that I have gotten to use my expertise for a variety of applications, some I would have never imagined before coming to the Lab. With each of these applications, I worked toward a truly valuable mission. I now work as part of an interdisciplinary team dedicated to public safety when there is a threat or actual release of contamination, especially nuclear or radiological material, in the atmosphere.
At the Lab, we have a pipeline where an idea or operational need is addressed through cutting-edge research. That research then produces improved processes and capabilities for us to meet our mission. The Lab assembles multidisciplinary teams that provide a collaborative and exciting work environment. I am always being challenged by and learning from the experts with whom I work, and therefore work is never boring!
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
In general, I’m incredibly proud of all work done at the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC). But if I had to pick one particular project that stands out for me, it is leading LLNL’s contribution to DOE’s radiological contingency planning team for the Mars 2020 launch of the Perseverance rover. I never imagined that I would be stationed at Kennedy Space Center in the Radiological Control Center for an Atlas V launch! It has been a wonderful experience to work with a team from DOE, the Department of Defense, and NASA in preparation for the launch.
What is your educational background?
I received a BS in atmospheric science from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and then a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in environmental science, policy, and management, studying ecosystem sciences. I’ve worked at the Lab for 8 years.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
I would definitely advise a new employee to learn as much about the Lab’s breadth of work as possible. Attend a seminar outside of your area occasionally. Get involved with networking and/or employee resource groups that will help you meet people from across the Lab. Aside from being interesting, these interactions can lead to innovative multidisciplinary proposals or an opportunity to participate in a cutting-edge project that you wouldn’t otherwise know about.
What do you do in your free time?
I am a mother to 2, so outside of work I spend a lot of time with my kids, enjoying whatever activity they are involved or interested in: sports, museums, theatre, exploring the Bay Area, etc. For “me” time, I challenge myself with the many great day hikes in the Bay Area. My longest so far was a solo hike: 22 miles with 5,000 feet elevation gain along the Ohlone Wilderness trail. I also love to go dancing, to concerts, and to baseball games with my kids and/or friends. Additionally, I enjoy volunteering my free time for various outreach efforts to increase the participation of under-represented populations in STEM fields. I’m a member of the Lab’s Amigos Unidos Hispanics in Partnership and the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women’s Association resource groups.
Learn more about Jessica:
Biography
August 3, 2020
What do you like about working at your job?
My job gives me the opportunity to constantly learn. I’m involved in projects where I can contribute to a team effort in my area of expertise while also learning from other scientists with expertise in different fields. I enjoy getting to work with a team of incredibly smart and motivated scientists to develop solutions for real-world problems.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
My day includes a wide range of activities. I run experiments in the lab, analyze data, plan upcoming experiments, prepare reports for sponsors, write grant applications, read papers, and participate in project team meetings.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I’m proud to be leading a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project focused on CRISPR genetic engineering technology. We are using CRISPR to develop novel synthetic biology tools and genetically encoded sensors, and we are gaining a deeper understanding of how the CRISPR system affects cells and can cause adverse stress responses in cells if it is not carefully controlled.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BSc in chemical and biomolecular engineering from North Carolina State University and MS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from Stanford University. I was hired as a postdoc at LLNL in 2015 and converted to a biomedical staff scientist position in 2018.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I started working in a research lab the summer after my freshman year in college. That experience helped me see how the material I was learning in classes could be applied to real world problems, and I really enjoyed working with a team of people to better understand how cells work at a fundamental level.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Take some time to learn about interesting and exciting work going on across the Lab. Also, seek out a supportive mentor and a group you enjoy working with.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy being outdoors, reading, cooking, and spending time with my family.
Learn more about Wes:
Biography
July 27, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
My working life at LLNL is really exciting and dynamic. I really enjoy working with talented and highly motivated team members. Having scientific discussions with them is my favorite activity during my working hours. At the Lab, I can participate in a wide spectrum of research projects ranging from fundamental science projects to highly applied engineering projects. As I continue my career and research experience at the Lab, I feel that I become a better scientist.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Most of my time is dedicated to communicating with team members and collaborators to discuss research scope, plans, funding opportunities, results, and challenges. In addition, I communicate with supercomputers to run simulations of materials behavior at the microstructure-level to support many projects associated with energy storage, actinides, corrosion, metal additive manufacturing, and so forth.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
Since 2015, I have been part of the Hydrogen Materials–Advanced Research Consortium (HyMARC), which is a consortium of multiple national laboratories for solid-state hydrogen storage materials as part of DOE’s Energy Materials Network. HyMARC is a multidisciplinary program under which I have learned so many new things from extensive collaborative research activities with my colleagues at LLNL and other national labs. In particular, my contribution involves defining the roles of mesoscale modeling within the consortium and leading microstructure-level research tasks. I’m really proud of being part of this excellent consortium and working with such brilliant people.
What is your educational or career background?
I received my PhD in materials science and engineering from The Pennsylvania State University. My academic training during my PhD study was focused on materials theory and modeling of complex microstructure pattern formation and evolution. I have an MS and a BS in materials science and engineering from Seoul National University in Korea. I’ve been at LLNL since 2013.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I was inspired by the fact that complex materials phenomena can be described by relatively simple principles and governing equations, which I learned from the graduate course “Kinetic Processes in Materials” during my master course in Korea. In addition, I was fascinated by the fact that complicated microstructural patterns can be predicted by numerically solving a set of equations on supercomputers. Computational materials science is really attractive to me because it integrates physics, chemistry, and applied mathematics.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Be proud of working at LLNL! You are working with the most brilliant people in the world. Also, be confident of your expertise in your field. You are hired because you are the best! Explore opportunities for working with great teams and participating in great research programs. Think about prioritization of your tasks when you are involved in multiple projects. Efficient time management is critically important to make your research life happy. Improve your communication skills. Effective communication skills are extremely important when you work in a multidisciplinary team.
What do you do in your free time?
In my free time, I try to be a good playmate for my two kids.
Learn more about Tae Wook:
Biography
July 27, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I love the collaborative nature of LLNL. If I need expertise on a project, there is bound to be an expert here willing to work with me. In addition, we have multiple instruments that are either rare or one-of-a-kind, which allows me to gain unique insights into my study system.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I typically spend a few months in the lab growing plants or troubleshooting protocols, and then the rest of my time is spent using bioinformatics to analyze the data and writing manuscripts. Every year I typically get a chance to go out into the field for an experimental soil harvest.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I recently published a paper in The ISME Journal on soil metatranscriptomics that looked at how roots alter the decomposition of decaying plant litter. RNA is notoriously unstable and hard to work with in the lab, and sequencing generates a ton of data. It is a unique dataset that I’m really proud to have produced, and I wrote many useful coding scripts along the way that I can now use for other projects.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS in environmental science and a BA in religious studies, both from Santa Clara University, an MESM in environmental science and management from the University of California (UC), Santa Barbara, and a PhD in microbiology from UC Berkeley. I’ve worked at the Lab for 7 years.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I’ve had a long-standing interest in how plant–microbial interactions can be used for the public good. As a master’s student, I took a bioremediation course that showed that toxin degradation surrounding plant roots is really the work of a community of microbes rather than a single organism. The importance of microbial community interactions stuck with me and inspired me to do a PhD in soil microbial ecology.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Developing relationships at the Lab is a huge part of the experience, and those relationships become your support network both scientifically and personally. Make time for lunch with colleagues and reach out to mentors, your support staff, and your managers when you have questions.
What do you do in your free time?
I love spending time in nature, such as hiking, camping, or rock climbing. I’m also a bookworm and will happily spend all my free time reading. I’m a member of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women’s Association.
Learn more about Erin:
Biography
July 10, 2020
What do you like about your job?
I love that part of my job is to constantly improve myself as a scientist. I’ve gotten to work on a diverse group of projects, and each one has involved delving into a different type of scientific discipline and developing new skills. The opportunity to contribute to large-scale scientific missions that can’t be accomplished anywhere else in the world, such as my work for the National Ignition Facility, is also very rewarding. I enjoy the campus feel of the site as well. It’s full of different buildings, some historic, some brand new and state-of-the-art, and each one has high-tech instrumentation or other resources devoted to a particular scientific question or technique.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Sometimes I know exactly what I need to do and how to do it and can get right to work taking data in the lab, fixing a piece of equipment, or processing data on the computer. Other days, if I’m beginning a new project or working on a particularly challenging problem, I might be at my desk doing background research and reading about scientific topics in journal articles and books or with a co-worker seeking their expertise. I also take time to learn about other people’s science by attending seminars by speakers from within the Lab or outside institutions.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
It’s not exactly scientific in nature, but I’m really proud of the work I’m doing related to diversity and inclusion and improving the employee experience as part of the PLS Workforce and Communication Committee. In particular, I’m excited for the launch of a new mentoring program I’ve developed. I think it’s great that the Lab is open to new grassroots ideas from its staff about how to improve workplace culture. It’s also fun to work on a non-science, more people-focused project to balance all the time spent thinking about data and scientific concepts.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS in chemistry from New York University, where I also minored in mathematics and Spanish. I then obtained my PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Sandia National Laboratory across the street in Livermore before I came here as a staff member.
What inspired you to go into science?
Interestingly, as a child I never really wanted to be a scientist. I remember in 8th grade science class, my teacher told me I would make a great scientist after doing well on an exam. Although I liked the class, I actually felt sort of offended at the suggestion! I thought of scientists as mostly nerdy older men, and that didn’t sound like me. However, in high school, I became fascinated with how the world works, and I decided I wanted to continue studying science in college.
I also loved the laboratory sections of my high school and college science courses. I thought they were the most fun way to spend a class period. I was also motivated by the promise science holds to solve the world’s problems, from curing disease to providing for a sustainable future. I chose chemistry because it’s thought of as the “central science” in that it connects other fields, such as physics and biology.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Explore as much as possible. The Lab is quite large both in terms of people and buildings. There are projects ranging across every type of science and engineering here, and employees are free to get involved in new things. I also recommend asking questions. Many people have worked at the Lab for over 20 or even 30 years. It’s important to speak up and ask if you don’t understand something, whether it’s what one of the many three letter acronyms used here stands for, the motivation behind a particular Lab mission, or a specific technical topic.
What do you do in your free time?
I try to take advantage of living in California and the Bay Area as much as possible. I take road trips across the state often to go camping at mountains, lakes, and beaches. I also love going to museums, art galleries, concerts, and restaurants in San Francisco. I spend at least one day per month volunteering. Another big hobby I have is gardening, and I even have a garden plot on site here with the Lab’s Gardening Networking Group. I’m also a member of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women’s Association.
Learn more about Noelle:
Biography
July 7, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
Being a part of LLNL, simply as an intern, has been an amazing experience both professionally and scientifically. I had the opportunity to intern at the Lab as a Seaborg fellow last summer, and I’m currently participating in a virtual LLNL internship. The Lab itself is such a cool place because it contains some of the best and brightest minds. Not to mention, Livermore (& California) itself is a neat place to live.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Currently, my internship experience is unique because it is virtual. My day-to-day consists of Excel spreadsheets and relating vast amounts of data relevant to nuclear forensics. Finding an effective way to store, manage, and query the data is what I am currently working on for the Lab. Last year, when I was working at the Lab, a typical day included method development and subsequent measurements of fuel pellets using optical profilometry and digital microscopy.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
The internship I conducted at the Lab was very transformative for my graduate school career, as I was able to take a step back from my dissertation work and travel to the Lab. My project aim was to create a methodology for measuring the surface roughness on fuel pellets using optical techniques. For nuclear forensic science, this work could provide clarification on the usefulness of surface roughness as a forensic signature. With the help of my mentor, Naomi Marks, I was able to conduct this research from start to finish. I felt confident in the skills I had learned in my first few years of graduate school and was able to really enjoy the process.
What is your educational or career background?
I got my BS in geology at Lock Haven University, and I am currently pursuing my PhD in earth sciences at the University of Notre Dame. My dissertation work focuses on the microscopy and spectroscopy of solid-state actinide materials. I was accepted as a Seaborg fellow last year and loved it so much that I knew I wanted to come back for a second summer. My hope is to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship at the Lab after graduation.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
As a geology major in undergrad, I became keenly fascinated with all things nuclear energy. It was at a national geology conference that I met my now PhD advisor, Amy Hixon, who led me down a path I did not even know existed at the time: nuclear forensics. In a way, some of what has happened in my early career has been a bit serendipitous. With that said, I have always loved microscopy and the idea of characterizing the macroscopic appearance and microstructure of materials. Funny enough, I still get to use scanning electron microscopy in graduate school, just as I did in undergrad.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
As a (returning) intern, my advice would be never to lose your enthusiasm, and take any opportunity to learn about what goes on at the Lab other than your own research. There are awesome tours available to interns and from my experience, everyone is always so nice.
What do you do in your free time?
I love to travel. The national parks, specifically the Grand Tetons, is probably my favorite place in the world. Italy also has a special place in my heart because I love the food (& the wine). I watch Harry Potter at least once a week, and I enjoy strength training.
July 7, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I get to work on exciting, large-scale projects with a diverse group of experts in their various sub-fields.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
All too many meetings, but when I get to sit at my desk, I develop computational models, write code to more effectively run simulations, and run and analyze molecular dynamics simulations on some of the world’s largest high-performance computers.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
We have been developing in silico assays for measuring drug-induced changes in membrane properties. This is of great importance, as many of the key proteins that regulate cell function are membrane embedded, and their function can change when you alter the membrane environment. Therefore, drugs can have undesirable off-target effects on a range of proteins without even directly interacting with them—a mechanism we can now test in silico during drug design, even before the drug lead is synthesized.
What is your career background?
I’m a computer scientist turned experimental biophysicist turned computational biologist.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
Curiosity about how things work. Biology in particular always appeared so messy, and still does, but little by little we discover more about the underlying principles.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Explore—the Lab is large, with an amazing amount of exciting and diverse research.
What do you do in your free time?
Currently, I mostly play with my 7-month-old daughter, but I also love to hike and read.
Are you a member of any employee resource groups?
I’m a member of the Early Career Employee Resource Group.
Learn more about Helgi:
Biography
June 29, 2020
What do you like about your job?
I love the wide range of activities I get to work on. I collaborate with a lot of people around the Lab, and it feels like I’m constantly learning about new techniques and developing new skills. I’m involved in many different aspects like postdoc mentoring, private partnerships, proposal writing, and of course research.
I enjoy working with the Lab’s devices. We cool our circuits down to temperatures that are 100 times colder than space, and then we probe them with tiny microwave fields to try to access their quantum mechanical properties.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Every day seems to be different. I can spend one day programming, another day wiring up a dilution refrigerator, and the next day writing up a patent.
What is your educational or career background?
I’ve always wanted to be a physicist. I studied physics at Foothill College, and finished my undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley. I then went to UC San Diego and studied condensed matter physics with Professor Ivan Schuller. There I studied the interactions of nanomagnets with superconductors and had my first exposure to quantized phenomena. I then took a postdoc position at the Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the University of Maryland, where I studied the strange properties of materials when in quantum mechanical environments.
Once I finished my postdoc, I learned that LLNL was starting up a new quantum computing program, and the notion of starting in a lab at the ground floor was too tempting to pass up.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
A few years ago, I came up with the idea of using a phononic bandgap to block the energy loss in quantum circuits due to the environment. I received a feasibility study, and after running multiple simulations and performing some fabrication runs, we determined that it’s a viable research direction. We now have a patent and are collaborating with UC Los Angeles to develop this new technology.
What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?
I’ve always enjoyed technical challenges and figuring things out. Physics is especially fun because there is always a puzzle you have to solve. Quantum physics is a particularly challenging area—materials in quantum computing environments behave in strange and unintuitive ways. Unlocking their secrets requires working at cryogenic temperatures and at radio frequencies and using statistical tools that can extract information from collective effects.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Talk with people and make new friends. You never know when you might find a project that overlaps with your expertise and you can start a collaboration.
What do you do in your free time?
Gaming and taking care of my 2-year-old son. I’m a member of the tabletop games networking group at LLNL.
Learn more about Yaniv:
Biography
June 29, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
There are always opportunities to learn new things, and we do fabulous science. I am also a part of a great admin team who support each other so well. And having a fitness program is wonderful!
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
My work for the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry changes daily. I can work on hire packages, foreign travel, or mentoring new hires.
What is your educational or career background?
I have been in the administrative field for 35+ years, and at the Lab for 29 years. It is something I very much like to do.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
One of my first jobs involved some administrative work, and I seemed to gravitate to positions that increased my responsibilities in that career.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Ask questions, understand you will learn how to navigate the Lab (by trial and error!), and know all of us have gone through the same angst wondering if we would ever learn all the acronyms and what goes where. But you will. It’ll be great!
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy walking my dogs and gardening. I participate in the fitness program through the Livermore Laboratory Employee Services Association (LLESA).
June 22, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
First and foremost, I enjoy working with bright people to solve hard problems, and I love the diversity of my roles. I also really like living in Livermore—it has great restaurants, nice people, is very walkable/bikeable, and has good access to hiking. Finally, working at LLNL gives me access to amazing computational resources and professional opportunities.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I use computer modeling to study climate change. On a typical day, I write computer code, solve math problems, think about rain storms, manage a team, and perhaps give a talk or work on a paper.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I’m currently leading a project aimed at creating a new numerical model of the atmosphere. This model will have much finer spatial resolution than previous models, which should make it more accurate and trustworthy. This project is equal parts atmospheric physics (choosing realistic process representations and good questions to answer with the model) and computer science (building a model which runs really fast on the world’s newest and biggest supercomputers). It is, to our knowledge, the first global climate model written in C++.
What is your educational and career background?
I got a BS and MS in mathematics from Western Washington University, and then a PhD in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington. I came to LLNL as a postdoc 11 years ago and never left.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
Climate science is a unique blend of geophysics, computer science, numerical analysis, statistics, and communication skills, which is a good fit for my jack-of-all-trades background. Also, I care deeply about the future of our planet. I feel lucky to get paid for saving it.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Get to know a lot of people—you never know who will have great advice or an opportunity for you. Volunteer to help out wherever you can—this will lead to more opportunities and increase your value to the lab.
What do you do in your free time?
In my free time, I like to explore the natural world under human power. I’ve skied across the Sierras and off the summit of many peaks in California and Washington. I’ve biked from Seattle to San Francisco and back as well as north–south across Germany. These days, I spend most of my free time kayaking. I’ve been on kayak expeditions in Mexico, Belize, England, Croatia, Thailand, and British Columbia, but I spend most of my time exploring the coast and rivers of California.
Learn more about Peter:
Biography
June 16, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I love puzzles and dislike being bored. At the lab, I get all the puzzles (and the resources to solve them), and I haven’t been bored yet. I get to do all of this fun puzzle solving with great coworkers and contribute to national security at the same time. It’s a great combo.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I smash stuff, really hard, to see what it does.
In normal times, my days vary. On any given day, I may be traveling for an experiment or meeting; setting up, operating, or running experiments; designing experiments/studies/diagnostics; meeting with engineering to move those designs to reality; simulating experiments; analyzing data; writing reports/papers; interviewing candidates; or planning the next stages of work.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
That’s tough, as I have two favorites. One project studied the shock response of granular materials on the local and long scales using x-ray imaging and diffraction methods. We were one of the first groups to image shocked materials during the shock using Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source. This let us measure the response of few-grain and many-grain samples to understand how force transmits, how the different grains break, and how phase transitions may differ in these samples compared to their bulk counterparts.
The other project is one I’m working on currently to measure temperature in shocks. I think of this as putting the ‘thermo’ back into thermodynamics—there’s almost no data, so we have to guess (or at best, estimate) important parts of our equations of state, even for materials that we otherwise know a lot about. This gap is holding our community back. This is the project that gets me up in the morning and keeps me up at night, because it’s really tough.
What inspired you to go into science?
My mom was an entomologist, so science was always on my radar. It was just the two of us, so I spent a lot of time in the lab and in the field with her. When I wasn’t mosquito bait, I was busy looking through microscopes. I explored various fields of science from there, and ended up doing shock physics kind of by accident.
When I graduated in mid-2008, I was six months pregnant and the economy was in free fall—getting a job right away didn’t happen. LLNL recruited my husband and me at the same time, so I ended up changing fields just trying to make sure we could work in the same city.
What is your educational or career background?
I got my BS in chemistry from Caltech (Pasadena, CA) in 2003, and my PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Texas (Austin, TX) in 2008. While a grad student, I had a summer fellowship at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which confirmed for me that I wanted to work at a national lab or NASA.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Network like mad. Find your org chart and pick a name, if you need to. If you’re an introvert, network extra. If you’re a postdoc or student, the lab lets you really explore and be creative with more resources than you had in school, so enjoy the time and make the most of those opportunities.
What are your hobbies?
Reading, weaving, spinning, art, baking, home repair, dog training, and volunteering.
Learn more about Minta:
Biography
June 16, 2020
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
In 2001, I was asked to lead the effort to get the first International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17025 accreditation for PLS and Global Security’s Forensic Science Center (FSC). This accreditation was a requirement for the FSC to be a designated lab for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). At the time, the FSC was one of only two designated laboratories in the United States.
The OPCW is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, and is the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention. It was a major accomplishment. Since that time, the ISO 17025 accreditation has been expanded to include the FSC Rad Forensic efforts.
I am proud that the accreditation continues today and I have the opportunity to work with exceptional people.
What is your educational and career background?
I have a BS in chemical engineering from Louisiana Tech University. I’ve worked at the Lab for 21 years.
What inspired you to go into science?
I have always loved science from a very young age.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Working at the Lab is a unique, extraordinary opportunity to be exposed to a wide variety of science. I’ve had the opportunity to know scientists that discovered new elements, researchers that developed new materials, and even scientists that support NASA and the space program, to name just a few things. The Lab is an extraordinary place. Just relax and take it all in.
What do you do in your free time?
I love to send time with family, particularly my first grandbaby. She is an amazing little girl that loves to learn, and I am so proud of her. I love spending time with friends and traveling.
June 8, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I enjoy working with people who help in the mission to advance science and technology that is applicable to our everyday lives. We have a ton of cool things being done here, and getting to learn about the science while supporting those who make it happen is very rewarding.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
I support the deputy associate director for operations in PLS, who manages personnel in the functional areas of safety, security, facilities, etc. to ensure work at LLNL is getting done properly.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a BS in public health with a concentration in behavioral studies from the University of Tampa. My career with LLNL started 5 years ago in the Scholar Program. I was an HR student intern, and from there I became a scholar and on-boarding coordinator. I left HR to become an administrative specialist in PLS’s Materials Science Division, and recently started my new role as operations administrator.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I’ve always enjoyed being in positions that support people in doing what they love to do. HR and the various other administrative jobs I’ve held have allowed me to support people and help them reach their scientific goals. If I can make their lives easier by covering the non-scientific aspects of the job, then the day has been a success.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Ask questions! And be patient, there’s lots of new things to learn if you’ve never worked here before.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy spending time with my family and doing Pilates!
June 1, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
Every day I’m learning something new, and often it is something that nobody ever knew before.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
In 2013, I was part of a team that developed a method to fabricate the ultra-thin, tough, free-standing polymer sheets. Think of it like the world’s thinnest plastic wrap. The method for making it came in a late-afternoon flash, and it worked so well that we completed development in a few short days. It was a real lesson that developing subject matter expertise over the course of years can lead to ultra-productive bursts of scientific work. And it was cool that our research was tweeted out by the Undersecretary of Energy!
What is your educational and career background?
I have a PhD in chemical engineering from MIT and came to the Lab after completing an academic postdoc. I’ve worked at the Lab for 9 years.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Scientists and engineers have a reputation for being antisocial, but a big part of my day involves communicating. Whether it’s talking to team members to flesh out an experimental plan, formulating hypotheses for results we don’t understand, or just trying to learn something new, communicating is a big part of my day.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Take the good with the bad, and remember that day-to-day frustrations are outweighed by getting to work on some of the coolest projects around. (I have to remind myself of this constantly, even after nearly a decade.)
What do you do in your free time?
I’m your run-of-the-mill nerdy suburban dad. I like reading science fiction, listening to music, watching baseball, and hanging out with my family.
Learn more about Sal:
Biography
June 1, 2020
What do you like about your job?
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate enough to work in several different fields of research, so I’m constantly learning new and interesting things. I love learning, understanding how things work, and solving challenging problems. I get to do all of these things at the Lab on a daily basis. The Lab is full of extremely bright people who are also friendly and approachable, which makes working here such a pleasure!
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I am leading a Laboratory Directed Research & Development project to predict snowpack in the Western US several months in advance. By using sophisticated machine learning methods, we’re pushing the limits of what is currently possible. It’s very inspiring to work with such a talented team of scientists.
What is your educational or career background?
I have a master’s degree in physics, a master’s degree in mathematics, and a PhD in theoretical cosmology. I did my postdoctoral research at the Lab in climate science before becoming a research physicist 2 years ago. Since then, I have been working on inertial confinement fusion, as well as continuing to work in climate science. In both fields, I use artificial intelligence and uncertainty quantification methods to improve our predictive capabilities and our physics understanding.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I watched a documentary about cosmology at the age of 11 and decided there and then that I wanted to be a physicist. I was curious about the world around me and the universe: I wanted to learn about and understand it all. Physics is super cool!
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Be sure to reach out whenever you have questions, need advice, anything at all. The Lab is a big place, so it can feel a little intimidating at first, but by reaching out, you’ll soon realize we’re a big supportive family, always here to help.
What do you do in your free time?
In my free time, I also solve problems: on the rock face! I am an avid rock climber, mountaineer, hiker, and traveler. The Sierra Nevada mountain range, just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Lab, has some of the best rock climbing in world, and I’m incredibly fortunate to go there on my weekends.
I’m also a member of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Women’s Association (LLLWA).
Learn more about Gemma:
Biography
May 21, 2020
What do you like about your job?
I enjoy taking advantage of the freedom to propose and conduct work important for national security at the Lab. I enjoy focusing on quality rather than quantity when it comes to delivering projects. I especially enjoy working with talented colleagues from different fields and background.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
One of the projects I am proud to have worked on is the Laboratory Directed Research and Development project “Enhanced Coherence for Quantum Sensing and Simulation,“ where I discovered a new quantum material with emergent superconductivity.
What is your educational or career background?
I was trained as an experimental physicist at Princeton University, where I obtained my PhD. After completing a three-year postdoctoral appointment at the Lab, I became a staff scientist in the Materials Science Division. I’ve worked at the Lab for 8 years.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
My typical work activities include reading papers, writing papers and proposals, performing experiments, analyzing data, attending meetings and talks, and discussing projects with teammates.
What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?
I love the excitement of being the person who unlocks the mysteries of physics. Making a discovery gives me the greatest sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
What do you do in your free time?
In my spare time, I enjoy watching movies and going hiking with my family to get outdoors. I also love reading, doing jigsaw puzzles, and jogging. And I love growing flowers and vegetables to relax during weekends.
Are you a member of any employee networking groups?
I’m a member of the Asian Pacific American Council (APAC).
Learn more about Dongxia:
Biography
May 21, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I enjoy getting to work with smart people on interesting problems, getting to work on a range of problems, and getting to apply a range of skills, including laboratory and computer work.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Designing detectors, including:
- Lab work (building, testing, debugging)
- Computer work (thermal, mechanical, and Monte Carlo simulations)
- Data analysis
- Theoretical work (understanding the nuclear physics of gamma-ray and neutron interactions)
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
We built and delivered the gamma-ray spectrometer that flew on a NASA mission to the planet Mercury. It took the first-ever gamma-ray data of the planet and helped inform our current thinking about how Mercury formed and evolved.
What is your educational and career background?
I have a PhD in physics, and I’ve worked at the Lab for 22 years.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
I liked the idea of building a career from my knowledge of math and computer programming. Physics seemed liked a good path to do that.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Find good mentors and/or a good team to work with. They can have such a huge impact on your career and learning.
What do you do in your free time?
Dancing and partner acrobatics
Learn more about Morgan:
Biography
May 15, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I love how collaborative the projects are. The ability to work with brilliant people in many different disciplines—and to be able to grow professionally and personally within the culture of the Lab—is a privilege that I cherish.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
On any given day, I can be found designing electrochemical reactors at my desk, using the array of advanced manufacturing techniques at the Lab to create devices, and performing experiments in the lab to convert carbon dioxide into useful products like plastics or fuels.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I’m extremely proud of the work that I was able to accomplish for creating the first 3D-printed vapor-fed reactors for electrochemical CO2 conversion. It’s a project that began as an idea in my head and turned into a full-scope effort that has left an impression not only on the field of CO2 reduction, but has opened new arenas in electrochemistry and chemical engineering.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
My perspective toward life is to help as many people as possible. With that in mind, science and research are excellent ways to make an impact on society, as well as to inspire the next generation to help and discover new knowledge.
My 10th grade chemistry teacher was very influential in my life and helped push me to not only learn about science, but to see the ways that it can be used to impact others. Throughout my educational career, I have been inspired by the many different problems people are working on and their dedication to leaving the world in a better place.
What is your educational and career background?
Hailing from Charlotte, NC, I earned my BS in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2011. I then completed my MS (2015) and PhD (2018) in chemical engineering from Stanford University, completing my dissertation in electrochemical catalyst and method design with Professor Thomas F. Jaramillo. I began at the Lab as a postdoctoral researcher in 2018 and have enjoyed my educational journey thus far!
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
One thing that I am very grateful I was able to do was to use my < 25% postdoc time to learn about the types of projects at the Lab. There’s a lot of really interesting and engaging projects that are going on, and I really appreciated how willing people were to discuss their work and look for opportunities to work together.
What do you do in your free time?
I spend a lot of time working with The Jeremy T. Feaster Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that I founded in 2012. Our team focuses on uplifting, mentoring, and awarding scholarships to under-represented students involved in community service. I also enjoy cooking, gardening, practicing mixed martial arts, engaging in outreach programs in the Bay area, and making wine!
Are you a member of any employee resource or networking groups?
I’m a member of the African American Body of Laboratory Employees (ABLE) and the Lawrence Livermore Postdoc Association.
May 15, 2020
What do you like about working at the Lab?
I enjoy the variety of research at the Lab. While you can work within a particular research area (i.e. neuroscience, toxicology), you may be involved in completely different projects within this space. Projects tend to be very multi-disciplinary and application focused. This type of environment, along with the incredibly smart people at the Lab, make it a rewarding and stimulating place to work.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
A mix of laboratory work, writing/data analyses, and team meetings to plan and discuss experimental progress.
What is your educational or career background?
I’ve worked at the Lab for 8 years. I have a bachelor’s in biology and chemistry and a PhD in chemistry.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Network across the Lab, and if you’re a postdoc, take advantage of your postdoc development time!
Are you a member of any employee networking groups?
The Organic Gardening Networking Group.
Learn more about Heather:
Biography
