U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy
2022-2025: Senior Program Manager & Social Scientist, Office of Consent-Based Siting, Office of Spent Fuel & Waste Disposition (Rank: GS-15, Step 6).
Summer 2024 to 2025: Communications Lead for DOE’s Office of Consent-Based Siting. Federal Manager for DOE’s Consent-Based Siting Consortia: a ~$24m program comprised of 12 project teams selected from academia, nonprofits, and the private sector to facilitate institutional learning and community-level engagement around spent nuclear fuel management.
Fall 2023 to Summer 2024: Federal Manager for Federal Consolidated Interim Storage Facility Siting Strategic Support & Consent-Based Siting Consortia Support (Funding: $2.2m). Engagement lead for quarterly Consortia convening and public meetings.
Fall 2022 to Summer 2023: Federal Manager for Outreach, Communications, and Stakeholder Engagement projects across five national laboratories (Funding: $4.2m).
Summer 2023 to Fall 2023: Federal Manager for Social Science, Stakeholder Analytics, and Host Community Considerations projects across three national laboratories (Funding: $2.1m).
2022-2025: As-needed management support stepping in as Acting Director of DOE’s Office of Consent-Based Siting, Acting Director of DOE’s Office of Integrated Waste Management, and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel & Waste Disposition.
Intersectoral Convenings: Consent-Based Nuclear Waste Governance
2025 Seventh Consent-Based Siting Consortia Quarterly Meeting. Meeting Architect and Master of Ceremonies for two-day U.S Department of Energy event convening 12 awardee organizations from academia, nonprofits, the private sector, and beyond. Event featured interactive brainstorming breakout workshops on engagement planning, misinformation, and messaging; spark talks from community-level subgrantees; and a facilitated group discussion about motivating next-generation champions. Crowne Plaza Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, Virginia, February 26-27, 2024.
2024 Sixth Consent-Based Siting Consortia Quarterly Meeting. Meeting Architect and Master of Ceremonies for two-day U.S Department of Energy event with 12 awardee organizations and their partners. Event featured session on DOE’s preliminary plans for a high-burnup demonstration cask shipment; an interactive breakout workshop to refine empathetic communication; a session on DOE’s engagement strategy; and a workshop on communicating amid contention led by experts from Argonne National Laboratory’s PAST Fusion Academy. Hosted and offered remarks at “You Ask, DOE Answers: What’s Next for Federal Consolidated Interim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel?” public webinar. Meeting held November 19-20.
2024 Fifth Consent-Based Siting Consortia Quarterly Meeting. Meeting Architect and Master of Ceremonies for two-day U.S Department of Energy event with 12 awardee organizations and their partners. Event featured interactive workshops on navigating sociopolitical complexities and group exercises in re-baselining project futures. Hosted and provided welcome remarks at “Amplify & Elevate: Expanding the National Conversation on Spent Nuclear Fuel” public webinar. Meeting held August 28-29.
2024 Fourth Consent-Based Siting Consortia Quarterly Meeting. Meeting Architect and Master of Ceremonies for two-day U.S Department of Energy event with 12 awardee organizations and their partners. Event featured backcasting scenario planning exercises and a site visit to the Catawba Nuclear Station in York, South Carolina. Hosted and moderated “Successes in Siting: A DOE Public Roundtable” webinar. SpringHill Suites, Charlotte, North Carolina, May 22-23.
2024 Third Consent-Based Siting Consortia Quarterly Meeting. Meeting Architect and Master of Ceremonies for two-day U.S Department of Energy event with 12 awardee organizations and their partners. Event featured remarks from Congressman Mike Levin and DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, as well as guest presentations from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. Hosted and moderated “Sharing Perspectives: A Consent-Based Siting Listening Session” public webinar. Meeting held February 14-15.
2023 Second Consent-Based Siting Consortia Second Quarterly Meeting. Meeting Architect and Master of Ceremonies for two-day U.S Department of Energy event with 12 awardee organizations and their partners. Event featured Tribal engagement workshop, digital stakeholder engagement tools demos, experiential futures exercises, and trainings for engaging with public outrage, opposition, and emotional stakeholders. Hosted and moderated “Virtual Open House” interactive webinar. Doubletree Cleveland Downtown, Cleveland, Ohio, November 2.
2023 Consent-Based Siting Consortia Kickoff Meeting. Meeting Architect and Master of Ceremonies for two-day U.S Department of Energy event with 12 awardee organizations and their partners. Event featured futures-thinking scenario planning exercises, strategic futures brainstorming sessions, virtual reality demos, and a public interactive webinar featuring remarks from Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. Hilton Washington DC National Mall The Wharf, Washington DC, July 25.
2022 DOE Office of Integrated Waste Management Public Engagement Boot Camp. Served as organizer, host, and training designer. Bootcamp featured scenario planning exercises, situational analysis workshops, and experiential futures exercises. Forrestal Building, U.S. Department of Energy HQ, Washington DC, October 2022.
U.S. Department of Energy: Social Scientist.
Federal manager for Nuclear Energy University Program partnerships with Vanderbilt University and University of Michigan.
Federal manager for socioeconomic research study developed in partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and University of South Carolina.
Federal manager for focus groups and interview-based sociological fieldwork in four U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region III communities currently hosting spent nuclear fuel.
Federal manager for national laboratory projects using artificial intelligence and natural language processing techniques to analyze public discourse and sentiments around nuclear waste.
Federal manager for citizen science subcontracting efforts.
Federal manager for facility siting strategic research, state-level sociopolitical climate analysis, and informational meetings with state-level representatives.
Led two rounds of application review and candidate interviews for American Association of Applied Sciences Science & Technology Policy Fellowship Program.
U.S. Department of Energy: Strategic Engagement & Outreach.
Drafted media responses, public talking points, and situational awareness backgrounders.
Salesforce relationship management and engagement metrics tracking.
Developed and deployed strategic decision tree matrices for vetting engagement invitations.
Identified new organizations, events, conferences for Consent-Based Siting Team outreach.
Supported webinars co-hosted with external partners for Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy.
Drafted talking points used by Secretary of Energy.
Designed/oversaw digital event notification campaigns for public meetings.