SRNL Gains New Researchers and Technicians Through DOE Office of Science Workforce Development Programs
For several years, Savannah River National Laboratory has trained faculty, graduate and undergraduate students through innovative Department of Energy Office of Science programs. Working alongside researchers at SRNL and other DOE national labs, Workforce Development for Teachers and Students programs are designed to transform STEM learning into STEM careers. Similarly, the Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program creates a pathway for students to advance their PhD research while working at a national laboratory.
Through both programs, student interns and researchers become scientists and, after program completion, are often hired as full-time employees.
Christina Bonner, now a graduate fellow in cyber policy at SRNL, was introduced to the WDTS program through her studies at Savannah State University, which had an affiliation with a University of Texas at San Antonio program that aims to attract, educate, and develop cybersecurity research skills for underrepresented minority students from minority serving institutions. It also focuses on creating a sustainable workforce pipeline between these schools and DOE national laboratories.
Last summer, Bonner came to SRNL through the WDTS Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships program. Her internship project focused on producing visual representations of data for tracking and monitoring cyber vulnerabilities for the unclassified computing system within SRNL.
“I chose Savannah River National Laboratory because, as an Augusta native, I had heard great things about the lab’s contributions to research,” says Bonner. “The opportunity to work in such a well-regarded environment was something I was very eager to pursue, and I am excited to be part of such impactful work.”
She returned to SRNL as a graduate fellow in the DOE Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program. Bonner continues working on continuous monitoring efforts in cyber security for maintaining accreditation of SRNL’s unclassified computing systems.
Alex Somers had different path to SRNL. He worked in tritium facilities at the Savannah River Site in 2016. In 2019, Somers began graduate school in nuclear engineering at Penn State. Through his work at SRS and contacts he developed there, he was able to reach out to SRNL to work on a proposal for DOE’s graduate student research program, which was accepted.
“My experience working in tritium ultimately made it a nice fit for SRNL,” says Somers. “I decided to stay on as full staff because I like the work we do here, my experience allows me to work on a lot of projects, my work group is awesome, and the amount of interesting work we’re doing in the fusion fuel cycle modeling space is likely going to increase.”
Somers now works as a senior scientist in fusion fuel cycle modeling. This involves the development of component level models and fusion fuel cycle inventory studies, development of fusion fuel cycles for private fusion companies, and some other nonproliferation related work.
Visit the DOE Office of Science WDTS and SCGSR programs for more information, including application deadlines.