January 2019 – July 2022
Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm answered questions from the audience in her first town hall on Monday. In this replay, she shares her vision of fostering a department of collaboration, solutions, and inclusion while tackling some of the biggest challenges Americans face today. https://youtu.be/8KNK4EcNl58
Secretary Granholm will hold a virtual staff meeting today at 11 a.m. She will review the DOE’s core missions of promoting scientific discovery, maintaining the nuclear deterrent, and remediating environmental harms. You can join at https://live.energy.gov. https://live.energy.gov/
Jennifer Granholm was sworn in Thursday as the 16th Secretary of Energy by Vice President Kamala Harris, following confirmation in the U.S. Senate. Secretary Granholm is only the second woman to lead the Department of Energy. She also released a video highlighting some of her priorities at DOE. https://www.energy.gov/contributors/jennifer-m-granholm
Earth and Environmental Sciences Area postdoctoral fellow Sara Gushgari-Doyle recently participated in a University of California-sponsored briefing for congressional and federal agency staff illustrating how the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted early career researchers. Watch the briefing. https://www.ucop.edu/federal-governmental-relations/advocacy/congressional-briefings/uc-covid-19-research-early-career-researchers.html
As part of Women’s History Month, the Department of Energy is focusing on women in climate action. Help tell the stories of the pioneering women who have inspired you. Learn more and respond by Friday, Feb. 26. https://diversity.lbl.gov/2021/02/19/who-are-the-women-in-climate-action-who-have-inspired-you/
The DOE has issued a draft Plastics Innovation Challenge Roadmap for DOE science and technology solutions to reduce plastic waste and lower the energy impacts of plastics production and reuse. The Lab is putting together a response to the request for Information; input is invited by Feb. 24. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScL5s1jYRyREcw6mlydFN2MNs1eleFhA1fNrR4FTn_rAB8sfA/viewform
The Department of Energy and the NIH BRAIN Initiative are hosting a series of talks on brain connectivity, starting Feb. 5 and continuing through March. Neural circuit mapping, whole-brain connectomics, and data pipelines are among the topics to be discussed. Learn more and register. https://brainconnectivityseries.com/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Physicist Kim Budil will take over as director of Lawrence Livermore National Lab on March 2, becoming the first woman to lead the lab. She came to Livermore in 1987 as a graduate student and held numerous positions before becoming VP of national labs for the University of California. https://www.llnl.gov/news/kim-budil-selected-director-lawrence-livermore?utm_medium=email&utm_source=FYI&dm_i=1ZJN,78565,1LGPJM,TAB35,1
Congrats to the Lab employees who received Energy Secretary’s Honor Awards. Among the winning teams were the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory Team, High-Performance Computing Resource Team, COVID-19 Clinical Testing Teams, COVID-19 Facilities and People Response Team, and S&T Matrix Team. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KBQNGYbxS6U_y-JEdGS2HUYbGx4jvUfz/view?usp=sharing
President Biden recorded and shared this brief message last week with those who work in federal agencies, summarizing the new administration’s priorities. Watch the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJbe_rg0GnE&feature=youtu.be