Other News – October 2021

Los Alamos leader named a DOE Sustainability Champion

October 5, 2021

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The Laboratory has reduced energy use by 8.3% since 2015, and water consumption by 20% since 2007.
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Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Sustainability Manager Monica Witt has received a 2021 Department of Energy (DOE) Sustainability Award for being a Sustainability Champion. Under her leadership, the Laboratory has reduced energy use by 8.3% since 2015 and water consumption by more than 20% since 2007. (See video here.) Witt, who has led the Laboratory’s Sustainability Program for 10 years, has focused investments on the site’s building portfolio to include replacing inefficient lighting systems and upgrading building controls to increase energy efficiency and improve facility operations. To improve energy use in buildings, Witt worked closely with the Laboratory’s Commissioning group to develop a recommissioning program that focuses on optimizing the performance of heating and cooling systems in more than 40 facilities. She’s now developing a strategic plan for construction and design specifications for “zero-energy ready” facility construction to reduce the Laboratory’s future carbon emissions. You can learn more here.

NNSA awards $7 million to minority-serving institutions in New Mexico and South Carolina

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) has awarded $7 million for workforce development and training supporting plutonium pit production to minority-serving educational institutions in New Mexico and South Carolina.  NNSA provided $3.5 million for partnerships in each state to be distributed among selected institutions, including historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribal colleges and universities.

The New Mexico education institutions receiving funding are:

  • Central New Mexico Community College
  • Clovis Community College
  • Luna Community College
  • Navajo Technical University
  • New Mexico Highlands University
  • New Mexico State University
  • Northern New Mexico College
  • San Juan College
  • Santa Fe Community College
  • University of New Mexico

The New Mexico Consortium will administer funding awards for the program in the state, with the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO) managing the grant in South Carolina.

3 outstanding students named Athena Engineering Scholars at LANL

Young Laboratory engineers Lindsay O’Brien, Olivia Stella and Sophie Weidenbenner have been named as Athena Engineering Scholars for 2021, as part of a program designed to inspire women to achieve their full potential as future leaders in engineering, and increase the numbers of women in the engineering profession. The Athena Program is open to all LANL women, students and staff who are interested in pursuing a graduate engineering degree. The program offers educational assistance for engineering graduate degrees to highly qualified and motivated women engineers; it provides professional development and networking opportunities during the scholar’s studies and throughout her early LANL career, with the goal of producing a diverse technical engineering staff at the Laboratory.

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