The Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Employees of the Month program recognizes two individuals each month—one programmatic and one operations—based on the excellence of their work and demonstration of Argonne’s Core Values: Impact, Safety, Respect, Integrity and Teamwork.

August 2019 PSE Employee of the Month—programmatic category

• Nancy Kariuki, in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering (CSE) division, is recognized for taking the initiative each summer to welcome, orient and train students participating in the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program who are assigned to CSE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Materials group. This year, Nancy acted as advisor and trainer for three SULI participants, one who worked on Nancy’s project and two others who worked on other group members’ projects. At the end of their internships, the students reported positive experiences due to Nancy’s guidance, and Argonne’s Department of Educational Programs praised Nancy for being a mentor they can count on.

August 2019 PSE Employee of the Month—operations category

• Nancy Rezek, in the High Energy Physics (HEP) division, is recognized for her integrity and teamwork. Due to recent short staffing, she has helped to onboard several new students, pushed difficult procurement orders through on time, tracked down missing packages, and helped organize the CAMPFIRE program at Argonne for new HEP graduate students. Nancy’s efforts have helped her colleagues to remain productive, and ultimately, have enabled impactful science to continue unimpaired.

Each month, the PSE Associate Laboratory Director and Division Directors review PSE Employee of the Month nominations and select recipients. All Argonne employees are eligible for nomination, including people within PSE and those who work with PSE. All PSE staff, postdocs and students are welcome to submit nominations. The call for nominations opens on the first of each month.