PNNL

Aubrey Means, national security specialist, was accepted into the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) Mid-Career Cadre, class of 2024. This three-year cadre, sponsored by CSIS’ Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI), features educational, networking, and development opportunities for nuclear professionals, including international exchanges, engagements with senior experts and practitioners, and opportunities to mentor young professionals in PONI’s other programs. Means was one of a handful of applicants selected from a pool of nuclear professionals around the country.

“I’m very honored,” Means said. “I look at the other members of my cohort and they’re all pretty intimidating. I’m very privileged to be among them and look forward to learning from them as well as the opportunities that the program presents.”

Means explained that the class of 2024 is limited to 26 people, all of whom are involved in the nuclear field. 

Background

Means found out about the cadre a few years ago while she was in the Nuclear Scholars Initiative, a PONI program targeting early-career nuclear professionals. This program aims to provide top graduate students or recent graduates with a unique venue to interact and dialogue with senior experts on nuclear weapons issues. 

“I previously participated in PONI’s Nuclear Scholars program, a few years ago, and that was incredibly beneficial to me,” Means said. “Through that experience I ended up publishing some of my research on the nexus between climate and nuclear that really informed a lot of what I do here at the Lab now.” 

Acceptance into the Mid-Career Cadre allows Means to further study her passion.

“I'm just a really big nerd and this is the sort of stuff I love to do. This is the stuff I was doing evenings and weekends before I ever came to the Lab. So, the ability, the opportunity, to continue to work on this topic of nuclear policy and nonproliferation, the more the better as far as I'm concerned,” Means said. 

Applications for the class of 2025 open in May 2025. 

“I would encourage others to look into it; both this and PONI’s Nuclear Scholars program. They’re really great programs and the applications are competitive every year,” Means said. “It's an opportunity to be really nerdy and to get to work with some really, really cool, really smart people who care a lot about these issues.”