Physcial Sciences Division
Staff Awards & Honors

May 2010

Talented Mentors Recognized for Contributions to Teacher, Students

In May 2010, five scientists from the Fundamental and Computational Sciences Directorate received the DOE Outstanding Mentor Award. This award recognizes Pacific Northwest National Laboratory staff who have been exceptional mentors for students in the following Department of Energy Office of Science Programs:

• Community College Institute (CCI)
• DOE Academies Creating Teacher Scientists (ACTS) for Middle School Science Teachers as Investigators Program
• Faculty and Student Teams (FaST)
• Pre-Service Teacher Fellowship (PST)
• Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI)

The winners from FCSD were . . .

James Carson Nominated by: Lance Kindle, SULI	James immediately made Lance feel like a valued, equal member of the PNNL project team. He guided Lance's work process rather than prescribing how it should be accomplished. As a result of James' mentoring, Lance believes he has acquired more knowledge and confidence in image analysis, which will benefit his career.
Ram Devanathan Nominated by: Sarah Morrison-Smith, SULI	Sarah's energizing experience working with Ram in 2008 led her to become a SULI intern in 2009. Ram's passion for his work greatly enriched Sarah's internship, and his exuberance helped her see how research can be exciting and interesting. Sarah believes the ability to inspire students to continue doing research is what makes Ram an outstanding mentor.
Galya Orr Nominated by: Galia Dietz, SULI, and Susan Bing, Pre-Service Teacher (PST) Project	Galia and Susan believe Galya is as brilliant a mentor as she is a scientist. Although busy with her own work, Galya made them feel as if they were a top priority. She showed enormous trust in their abilities by allowing them to work independently on challenging, complex problems using cutting-edge technologies. Both program participants appreciated Galya's caring, supportive attitude. And, when the program ended, they took with them an invaluable experience.
Jordan Smith Nominated by: Elise Khloe, PST	Jordan, a post-doctoral fellow at PNNL, is the type of mentor every intern hopes for, Elise said, the kind who really wants to be a mentor and see their intern grow to love research and science even more than they did when they started work. Jordan did everything possible to make that happen. He helped Elise design a project that would suit her research goals and benefit the rest of the team. His constant, positive feedback of "You Got This!" helped Elise overcome her apprehension and showed her that he believed in her ability to accomplish the task at hand.
Justin Teeguarden Nominated by: Allison Tucker, SULI	Allison describes her internship experience with Justin as "spectacular." She credits his openness, encouragement, and availability as key components in making it such a great experience. Justin stressed not only the importance of quality science and research, but also encouraged Allison to develop skills in writing and speaking, important components of a career.