News

Berkeley Lab addresses the biggest scientific challenges with multidisciplinary teams of experts and five national scientific user facilities that are accessible to collaborators worldwide. Hear how Lab researchers (including some WD&E mentors) are leveraging these strengths to develop high-impact solutions to the COVID-19 crisis.

This summer, Berkeley Lab’s K-12 STEM Education and Outreach team is offering programs for high school students to engage and work with National Lab scientists. Learn about Berkeley Lab K-12’s different program offerings and see which one best supports your STEM career goals.

On Feb. 17, assorted postdoctoral research fellows presented their work at Berkeley Lab’s Computing Sciences Area 2021 Postdoc Symposium. Don Wilcox (a mentor in our SULI program) was among those featured; he explained his work on “Scalable Computational Modeling of Neutrino Quantum Kinetics in Astrophysics.”

Three cheers for Colette Flood! She has been selected as one of Berkeley Lab’s Women @ The Lab 2020. 15 honorees are selected by the Women Scientists & Engineers Council for their meritorious professional contributions, leadership, mentorship, and outreach. This year, W@TL received 98 nominations for 68 nominees, a significantly greater number than in previous […]

Oakland native Colette Flood came to Berkeley Lab 11 years ago as an Internship Manager, and is now the Manager of Workforce Development and Education. She holds a B.S. in Public Administration and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Southern California. The Workforce Development Office manages Undergraduate, Post-baccalaureate, Graduate, and Faculty Internships, […]

Nakeiah Harrell has been promoted to the position of Workforce Development & Education internship manager where she will manage program operations, mentor support, and program development and management to elevate the Lab programs to prepare the next generation of STEM professionals.

Visible Spectrum is a series to spotlight talented and dedicated women employees across the Lab. Since 2011, Nakeiah Harrell has been with Workforce Development & Education (WD&E) providing administrative support for the internship programs. Nakeiah’s role has been described to be absolutely crucial to the programs. One colleague notes: “These programs would not be possible […]

Jermaine Harris has been hired as the Internship Coordinator for Workforce Development & Education (WD&E). His primary role is to support undergraduate, post-baccalaureate and graduate students, and coordinate WD&E program logistics, events, and visits.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which was founded in 1848 and is the world’s largest general scientific society, today announced that 489 of its members, among them eight scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), have been named Fellows. This lifetime honor, which follows a nomination and review process, recognizes scientists, engineers, […]

The K-12 STEM team will host high school students in summer 2021 for a six-week internship program hosted at the Lab, and mentors and project ideas are needed. Those interested in mentoring will take part in training and additional meetings to prepare to work with students.

A Berkeley Lab intern and his mentor develop an algorithm that will extract better structures from low-quality diffraction data. Tenacity comes naturally to a guy who hails from the “mule capital of the world.” That trait has stood Columbia, Tennessee, native Elliot Perryman in good stead as an intern at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). […]

Undergrad and graduate students in STEM majors researching at a DOE national laboratory are invited to apply for the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship Program. The 10-week summer program provides a stipend, travel, and housing assistance. The application deadline is Jan. 8.

Need an intern for next year? Project descriptions for spring 2021 interns in scientific, engineering, and technical fields are due to Workforce Development & Education by Oct 16. Interested mentors can read the Applicant Review Guide on WD&E’s mentoring webpage.

Fellowships and internships can make a huge difference in a young scientist or engineer’s career. They provide experiences that can shed light on career options, provide opportunities to explore new areas of science, and build skills, to name just a few benefits. Berkeley Lab has many such fellowships and internships, as a part of its […]

Applications are open for spring undergraduate internships. Program dates are Jan. 11 to April 30. Applications are due Oct. 7. Encourage undergrads or post baccalaureates you may know to apply. Visit the Workforce Development & Education website for more information.  

The Department of Energy’s National Labs are the crown jewels of science in America. But their work is so diverse, and the challenges they tackle so far-reaching, that it’s hard to talk about all 17 of them — there’s just too much to cover in one episode.   Or is there?   This episode takes […]

Laleh Coté and Colette Flood of the Lab’s Workforce Development & Education team have been funded through the Innovative Genomics Institute Rapid Response Research Fund to study virtual mentoring practices and the impacts of COVID-19 on the next generation of the scientific workforce.  

Applications for Workforce Development & Education fall 2020 internships are open. Undergrads, post baccalaureates, graduate students, and faculty must apply by May 28. SULI and BLUR eligibility now includes grad students. Mentors should prep project descriptions and encourage students to apply.  

Learn yoga to support your wellness. Join the Lab’s Wes Bethel on Zoom every Tuesday and Wednesday at noon for a free yoga class. Tuesday’s classes are for the beginning students, and Wednesday’s classes are for those more familiar with yoga. Yoga is a great family activity as well . For more info, click here.

Optum Behavioral Health is offering public access to their free Emotional Support Help Line for those experiencing anxiety or stress related to COVID-19. Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-866-342-6892.

The Lab’s research services team is online and available to assist you. Library book retrieval is suspended and due dates on materials are now June 1. Digital materials are available via library.lbl.gov or library@lbl.gov. Publications staff are here to assist with DOE compliance.

Guidance on acquiring peripherals, computers, and ergonomic accessories   Summary: Berkeley Lab wants to ensure that remote work is conducted safely and productively. The following guidance is designed to assist employees and supervisors in making decisions about what remote work accessories might be needed and how to acquire them. This guidance document tries to strike […]

Collaborating with your colleagues while working from home is easier with the right tools. You can use Google Drive to store and share documents, group chat with Google Hangouts, and set up a meeting with one collaborator or the entire team with video calling apps like Zoom and Google Hangouts. Get Ready Before you go, […]

Effective March 16, all domestic travel is suspended per the latest DOE guidance. Only mission-essential travel with permission of the Lab Director is permitted. This is in addition to the previously announced ban on international travel. Route requests for all travel through your line management for approval. Before putting in a request to travel, review […]

Cheap, clean power generation is becoming more of a reality, but energy storage is still one of the biggest barriers to widespread adoption. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) are continually working to advance technologies that generate, use, or store electricity at a large scale and for long duration (more than four hours). […]

Would you rather have your chosen photo behind you rather than your kitchen wall during Zoom meetings? Download the Zoom app, go to preferences>virtual background and upload a photo or choose one provided. Download the app, access training sessions, and learn more about Zoom.

Six Bay Area counties have ordered all residents to shelter-in-place beginning March 17 and lasting until at least April 7. The counties affected are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. This includes the Lab. To read more, click here.

As is the case during any respiratory illness season, one of the best ways to protect yourself is to keep your hands clean. This means frequent washing and sanitizing as well as politely declining handshakes (high fives and fist bumps too, sorry). Try a friendly wave or elbow bump.  

The Lab’s custodial team is increasing the cleaning of doorknobs, conference tables, and interior handrails. Restrooms will continue to be cleaned daily using disinfectant products. Elevators are also cleaned often, including disinfecting buttons, doors, and other commonly touched surfaces.

The International Researchers and Scholars Office (IRSO) team is available to provide support and assistance for researchers with coronavirus-related travel delays and to their managers or hosts. The IRSO team is reaching out to scheduled new hires, affiliates, and current staff who are abroad in China to share information as it becomes available. Hiring managers […]

Stay Well Tips: New Coronavirus Spreading From Asia The coronavirus that started in Asia has reached the United States and can spread rapidly since it is now known that the virus can spread from person to person. The virus started in Wuhan, China and has now appeared in several other countries. Passengers on flights coming […]

Applications for Workforce Development & Education summer 2020 internships are now open. Undergrads, post baccalaureates, graduate students, and faculty must apply by Jan. 9. SULI and BLUR eligibility now includes graduate students.

Inspiring and preparing the next generation of scientists, engineers, technologists, and STEM professionals, Berkeley Lab Workforce Development & Education (WD&E) offers a range of programs for undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, graduate students, and faculty. Berkeley Lab is one of the top 5 largest National Laboratory programs in the DOE Office of Science Workforce Development for Teachers and […]

X-ray footprinting mass spectrometry (XFMS) is a relatively new method to investigate structural features and conformational changes of macromolecules in the solution state. This technique is an innovative way to precisely probe proteins and their surroundings using X-rays. One of the most recent applications of XFMS is understanding how to redesign proteins with the capacity to transfer electrons to mineral surfaces and thus developing bioelectronic sensors. Other applications include determining how ion channel proteins gate molecules in and out of cells, and elucidating how photosynthetic bacteria protect themselves from overexposure to light.

Hood College professor, Xinlian Liu is at Berkeley Lab this summer as part of the Visiting Faculty Program, which enables teachers to work with researchers at national labs. Liu is exploring the integration of computer science and humanities studies to provide students with a holistic education.

The work of 105 interns who spent the summer participating in the Berkeley Lab internship programs will be on display during a poster session from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on the ALS Patio on Wednesday, Aug. 7. The interns, who were hosted by Workforce Development & Education, worked with world-class scientists and engineers on projects related to the Lab’s cutting-edge research programs.  

Growing up in Ethiopia, Tadewos Getachew witnessed a lack of access to clean drinking water. “I wanted to build a career that would help solve water problems,” he said. As an intern in EESA, he is learning to estimate groundwater withdrawals for California’s drought-parched Central Valley.

Ileana Callejas, Tadewos Getachew, and Viviana Vela are at Berkeley Lab this summer as GEM fellows, which supports underrepresented groups during their masters or doctoral programs. GEM Consortium executives recently visited the fellows, who are hosted by Workforce Development & Education.

Summer interns and mentors recently gathered to socialize and celebrate their accomplishments over the last month. Sponsored by Workforce Development & Education, the interns work alongside Lab scientists on research projects, culminating in a poster session in August. 

As part of DOE’s “Women@Energy” series, Laleh Coté, Berkeley Lab’s internship coordinator in Workforce Development & Educations, disscuses what inspired her to work in STEM, ways to encourage underrepresented groups to pursue a STEM education, and tips for those who want to work in STEM.

Since 1994, employees have brought their kids or other youngsters to the Lab as part of the national “Daughters and Sons to Work” program. This year, 150 kids participated in numerous activities.