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What is your background?
I have a bachelor’s of science from New Mexico State University and a master’s of science from the University of California-Davis. I’ve been with the Lab since 2005, when I started as an undergraduate student, except for a brief hiatus to attend grad school. At LANL, I’ve worked in multiple organizations, where I was introduced to the Lab’s procurement practices, environmental research—from climate change to avian flu, wildlife monitoring, environmental sampling, and finally to what I do now—pollution prevention.

What do you do at Los Alamos National Laboratory?
I am the program lead for LANL’s Pollution Prevention Program. I help guide the direction of the program, manage budget, respond to institutional deliverables, and—most of all—work to fund and support projects that emphasize source reduction across the Laboratory. Our program has assisted with the avoidance of potent greenhouse gas emissions, reduced dangerous chemical use in mission-critical operations, engaged in program development for best-in-industry management of chemicals, supported water-efficiency measures, and worked to understand the presence of emerging contaminants of concern on site.

Why is this work important to you?
First, source reduction implementation at the Lab is important, and it makes a difference. Other organizations at the Lab take on the same mission, and we rely on LANL’s incredible engineering and scientific talent to make those process improvements that reduce our environmental impact. Second, environmental improvement goes hand-in-hand with safety. If we reduce the impact to the environment, we are most likely making operations safer for our employees and also more efficient. Finally, I care about the place where LANL resides. I am deeply a New Mexican. My mom’s family have been ranchers in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado since the 1800s, and I have lived in Los Alamos most of my life. What LANL does impacts its neighbors and the natural environment, which is also my home; what I do each day at work impacts me, my family, my children’s future, and this place that I love.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Before 2017, I was an equestrian, and my life revolved around my horses and riding in this gorgeous part of the world. My horse passed away in 2017, and shortly thereafter my first child was born. My focus has changed, and I enjoy spending time with my two children and my newfound love of gardening. I also love photography, though I am certainly an amateur!

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What is your background?
I have a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from Montana State University and a Master of Water Resources Degree from the University of New Mexico. Before working at Los Alamos National Laboratory, I worked for several state and federal agencies on a wide variety of projects that involved hydrology and water quality monitoring.

What do you do at Los Alamos National Laboratory?
As a member of the Water Quality Compliance Team in the Laboratory’s Environmental Protection and Compliance Division, I work alongside a group of dedicated individuals to maintain compliance with LANL’s ground water discharge permits to protect ground water quality and vital water resources in northern New Mexico. My responsibilities at LANL involve field work, data analysis, and report writing to meet the Laboratory’s stringent environmental water quality requirements. I am fortunate to work with a talented team of professionals who strive to fulfill the various environmental regulatory obligations of the Laboratory that enables the important work at this institution to be completed.

Why is this work important to you?
I was initially drawn to the environmental field and natural resources protection because of my appreciation of public lands and access to wilderness and the importance of clean water.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I enjoy baking sourdough bread and pizza, eating sun-drenched tomatoes directly from the garden, mountain biking, hiking through the wilderness, attending live music, and whitewater rafting down the great rivers of the American west. Above all else, I enjoy spending time with my wife and two young children, who fill me with joy, laughter, and amazement each day. 

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What is your background?
I have worked at the Laboratory since April 2019 and in the environmental field for most of 49 years. My education includes a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, a master’s degree in management, and a master of science degree in hazardous waste management. During the 1970s and 1980s, I was employed by major government contractors for the U.S. EPA and U.S. DOE. My work for the EPA supported the EPA Regional Offices and included technical and management roles for ambient air monitoring, soil science, geophysics, aquatic biology, limnology, hydrogeology, and chemistry. 

As environmental manager at the Volvo truck plant in Virginia, I was the technical lead for minor NSR and major NSR/PSD permitting for several plant and paint shop expansions over a 20-year period. In addition, I developed air pollution control device monitoring systems and recordkeeping and reporting systems for US-EPA Tier II, SARA 313 Form R, annual air emissions, and Title V compliance assurance monitoring for paint shops. During my tenure, our environmental team created the first certified zero landfill facility in the Volvo family, achieved the first designation in the U.S. for the U.S. DOE ISO 50001 Energy Management System and Superior Energy Performance, and led the effort to install an ultra-filtration and reverse osmosis system for industrial wastewater recycling and reuse at the plant.

What do you do at Los Alamos National Laboratory?
My responsibilities at the Laboratory include determining the regulatory applicability for new or modified processes. I also develop permitting strategies and prepare air permit applications as appropriate, including emission calculations and air modeling as required. I review draft permits submitted by the agencies and return comments and revisions for air permit terms and conditions. In addition, I support the compliance team for the implementation of air permit requirements, including monitoring, recordkeeping, and testing and provide internal consulting support for air quality regulatory issues.

Why is this work important to you?
I have always thought of myself as a “tree hugger” and love the great outdoors; however, I believe in a balance between the manufacturing and research activities that support the economy and job creation and the need to protect the environment for future generations. Part of my job is preparing applications for air permits that allow Lab operations to perform their various functions while fulfilling the environmental requirements of the state and federal agencies. Overall, it is interesting and challenging work that allows me to be a part of protecting the environment while supporting the Lab’s mission.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
My wife, Connie, and I love to be active and travel. We enjoy mountain biking, hiking, skiing, and various water sports. We were fortunate to be able to travel to the Galapagos Islands in 2022 and hope to visit Portugal and Spain during 2023. We never thought of ourselves as “foodies,” but we have enjoyed sampling the great variety of non-franchise eateries in northern New Mexico. We also have a great church group that meets at a host home a couple times per month for an evening meal and to study the most recent sermons (and plan the next bike ride!).

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What is your background?
My background is in cultural resources management, which includes archaeology and history. With a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in historic preservation, I have been a cultural resources specialist for more than 25 years. I am keenly interested in properties that exhibit vernacular architecture or are associated with specific scientific pursuits, and I love historical maps and aerial photographs.

What do you do at Los Alamos National Laboratory?
At the Laboratory, I serve as an architectural and landscape historian, where I primarily research and write the histories of Laboratory buildings, structures, objects, and landscapes. By investigating the work performed at a facility and who worked there, I am able to discover the facility’s historical significance and recommend whether it is important to our collective history.

Why is this work important to you?
Cultural resources work is extremely meaningful to me. New Mexico has a rich and diverse history, and this career provides an opportunity for me to contribute to that body of knowledge. I am intrigued by the larger concept of heritage and often think about “what to preserve for whom.” Telling never-told stories or discovering new information about a place, event, or person is very rewarding.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I often take what they call a busman’s holiday (or doing what I do at work on my days off). With a small but diverse group of friends, my wife and I enjoy exploring the historical places of northern New Mexico, traveling the extraordinary landscape, and discovering great food.

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What is your background?
I have a bachelor’s of science in Wildlife Science from New Mexico State University. I also earned a master’s of science in Natural Resources Management (Wildlife) from New Mexico Highlands University. I am a Northern New Mexico native, hailing from the beautiful Española Valley, where we enjoy strong agricultural ties to the land and its water. Early in my career, I gained work experience with enigmatic large animals such as bighorn sheep and black bear. I also wet my feet in cold water fisheries work with various trout species. From there, I have worked as a groundwater sampler, forestry/arborist assistant, and then eventually back to biologist for the Soils, Foodstuffs, and Biota monitoring program as well as the Biological Resources program. I have many years of experience as a field biologist, technician, field lead, program manager, and other roles, working for contractors, subcontractors, and tribal entities, among others.

What do you do at Los Alamos National Laboratory?
I am currently the Resources Management team leader within the Environmental Protection and Compliance group. The programs I am fortunate to manage are Biological Resources, National Environmental Protection Act, Trails, Forest Health; and Soil, Foodstuffs, and Biota Monitoring.

Why is this work important to you?
I have always felt called to give a voice to natural resources—especially wildlife—because they are most often overlooked and undervalued. Being involved in this type of work allows me to ensure that we are doing the right thing in our operations and to be directly involved in the conservation of resources in this region that I call home.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I enjoy working on the land, growing food, raising kids, camping, fishing, hunting, cooking, and learning new skills.

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What is your background?
I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Policy and Spanish from Albright College in Pennsylvania, a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Wildlife Management from Western State Colorado University in Colorado, and a Master’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from Clemson University in South Carolina. My background is in freshwater aquatic insect ecology, but over the course of my career, I have worked on an assortment of projects for various special status species including Mountain Yellow-legged frogs, Spotted Owls, Flammulated Owls, Willow Flycatchers, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, and Monarch Butterflies.

What do you do at Los Alamos National Laboratory?
I support the Environmental Protection and Compliance Division’s biological resources program and the soil, foodstuffs, and biota program. Through these efforts, we ensure that the Laboratory complies with state and federal requirements and other regulatory drivers, including DOE orders. We ensure that LANL operations are not impacting federally protected species and their habitats, as well as migratory birds. We also monitor and implement best management practices for sensitive species on site. Additionally, through environmental sampling and monitoring, we determine if Lab operations are impacting human health via the food chain and the environment. All results are published in our annual site environmental reports.

Why is this work important to you?
As an ecologist with the Environmental Protection and Compliance Division, it is my obligation to ensure that biological resources are protected and conserved to the best of the Lab’s ability. Ensuring environmental compliance and effective environmental stewardship is the ethical and responsible action to take for our workplace, our communities, our neighbors, and our world.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I enjoy anything that gets me outdoors, including hiking, trail running, mountain climbing, camping, gardening, backpacking, snowshoeing, skiing, and bird watching.

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What is your background?
In 2013, I graduated with a bachelor’s of science in Environmental Science and Policy from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. I started my career as a proposal writer for a government consulting company and slowly began working on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) projects for the National Nuclear Security Administration. I decided to go back to school for a master’s of science in Industrial Engineering at New Mexico State University and, as a graduate student in 2018, I was very excited to start working with the LANL NEPA team. After earning a master’s, I worked at Sandia National Laboratory, but LANL has always felt like home, so I was excited to return in 2021 to the LANL NEPA team.

What do you do at Los Alamos National Laboratory?
In 2022, Triad began supporting a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS), a public document that will analyze LANL operations under NEPA for the next 15 years. I was honored to be asked to serve as an Environmental Project Manager for this document. Specifically, my role for the SWEIS requires that I collaborate with (1) project personnel across LANL to conceptualize the types of projects and operations that will be needed to support the national security mission and (2) environmental subject matter experts who are actively part of the early conceptual planning process so that environmental impacts can be recognized and minimized.

Why is this work important to you?
I love that NEPA enables informed decision making; under NEPA, potential environmental impacts for proposed projects and operations are evaluated and analyzed so that environmental considerations are forefront and center when making a decision on whether to pursue a project.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
On the weekends, I can be found hiking, traveling, reading, running, playing with my toddler son, or relaxing with my family.

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What is your background?
I have an associate’s degree in liberal arts from the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos. I learned waste management from my peers and on-the-job training. I also attended offsite trainings that provided me the knowledge to conduct thorough assessments. I have been working at the Laboratory for more than 30 years, providing waste management guidance and support.

What do you do at Los Alamos National Laboratory?
I am the lead for the Compliance Technical Assistance Process team. We conduct friendly waste management assessments for appropriately 550 registered solid and hazardous/mixed waste areas at LANL, including treatment and storage facilities and generator sites. Observations from the friendly assessments are shared with generators, waste management coordinators, and the responsible line manager. We ensure that solid waste, hazardous waste/mixed waste, universal waste, used oil, New Mexico Special Waste, and polychlorinated biphenyls waste are managed and stored properly according to federal, state, and Triad policies. We also provide generator support and training for waste generators. I am the subject matter expert for waste management training. I also serve as the lead for the annual hazardous waste inspection, which entails scheduling the visits, escorting the auditors, and providing them with any photographs or documentation requested.


Why is this work important to you?
This work is important to me because we assist in protecting the environment by ensuring that waste is properly managed and safely disposed. It is very important for us to protect our environment so that we can continue to live in a healthy place. Our team’s work helps Triad stay compliant regarding regulations imposed by the New Mexico Environment Department. Our work also enables Triad’s mission by ensuring that the public and our regulators are familiar with waste processes and regulatory implementation at our facility.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I like to spend my free time with my family, walking outdoors, and playing with my tractor or reading.

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What is your background?
I have 26 years of environmental experience at LANL involving waste. My experience includes work as a waste management coordinator, a waste shipper, and a hazardous materials driver.

What do you do at Los Alamos National Laboratory?
I co-lead the P409 assessment team. P409 is LANL’s waste management procedure—the policy document that describes the Laboratory’s system for safely and compliantly characterizing, packaging, storing, treating, disposing, and transporting the various sanitary, hazardous, radioactive, and otherwise regulated wastes generated by LANL activities. This internal waste assessment team assesses LANL waste management practices from cradle to grave.

Why is this work important to you?
I believe that all waste-generating groups at LANL can benefit from expert help regarding their waste. My passion is being able to assist generators, waste management coordinators, shippers, and managers to ensure that their waste is compliant with regulations.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I work on my family’s ranch, spend time with our animals, and hunt. I also love to play and listen to music, and I enjoy the arts in all forms. Comradery amongst my work friends, family, bandmates, and friends abroad is also very important.