January 2019 – July 2022
James Singzon is a site reliability engineer at NERSC. With family members in healthcare, Singzon does his part by keeping the machines running smoothly for research efforts like the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/05/15/masks-on-ready-to-work-meet-the-people-supporting-covid-19-science/#james
At an East Bay Nerd Nite presentation earlier this spring, the Lab’s Héctor García Martín discussed how novel synthetic biology is designing life to unique specifications, and how breakthrough artificial intelligence is crucial to the next generation of this technology. https://youtu.be/uRV1lSB8nJA
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. https://innovativegenomics.org/news/one-million-new-covid-19-research/
Jim Bristow of the Lab’s Biosciences Area brought community coronavirus testing to his island home after his wife came down with symptoms of COVID-19, and there was a shortage of tests. Read about how he and the community came up with a plan that is now serving as a model for other communities. https://biosciences.lbl.gov/2020/05/21/bristow-helps-bring-test-and-trace-to-rural-communities/
A long-distance runner for many years, Aditi Krishnapriyan – the latest postdoctoral researcher to be awarded the prestigious Alvarez Fellowship – brings a well-honed energy and intensity to her new position in the Computational Research Division. https://cs.lbl.gov/news-media/news/2020/computing-sciences-welcomes-new-alvarez-fellow-aditi-krishnapriyan/
Ben Agas, a fire-alarm electrician at the Lab, lives in a household of “essential employees.” His wife works in a hospital, his son is an emergency medical technician, and Agas continues to carry out his duties at the Lab as a part of a small remaining force of essential workers. https://stratcomm-elements.lbl.gov/2020/05/18/on-site-superstar-ben-agas/
DOE’s STEM Rising program seeks to inspire, educate, and spark an interest in STEM careers. To help educate students during the shelter-in-place, national lab researchers were asked to share their love of science. Here, the Lab’s Vi Rapp discusses how she solves problems to improve human health. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98SZN-lPNX8
Corie Ralston has been promoted to the position of Facility Director for the Biological Nanostructures Facility at the Molecular Foundry. Marc Allaire has been appointed Head of the Biosciences Area’s Berkeley Center for Structural Biology, which manages six beamlines at the Advanced Light Source. https://biosciences.lbl.gov/2020/05/14/ralston-and-allaire-step-into-new-roles/
David Richardson’s job is literally to make sure the light stays on. But it’s not just any light – it’s a very special X-ray light that could play a crucial role in an eventual treatment for COVID-19. Richardson, an ALS operator, is among the essential workers supporting COVID-19 research. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/05/15/masks-on-ready-to-work-meet-the-people-supporting-covid-19-science/
At age 9, Gael Flores came to the U.S. from Mexico. He later worked at McDonald’s, then got a job at a sheet metal factory. Listening to Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time” reshaped his future. The recent UC Berkeley grad now hunts neutrinos as part of the Lab’s DUNES research team. https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/05/13/student-gael-flores-on-his-journey-from-sheet-metal-worker-to-physicist/