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

March 2021 PSE Employee of the Month — Operations category

• Environment Safety and Health Coordinator Dan Applegate went above and beyond to achieve the highest safety standards while helping to start a new research group at Argonne. He respectfully and competently guided the group on Work Planning and Control documents and connected them with stakeholders to support research infrastructure. Applegate was patient and knowledgeable, making himself available and researching the best approaches to lab safety. His contributions display all five of Argonne’s Core Values.

March 2021 PSE Employee of the Month — Programmatic Category

• Maria Chan and Pierre Darancet, scientists in PSE’s Nanoscience and Technology division, played a key role in research that was recently featured on the cover of the March 12 issue of Science. They performed calculations that enabled a more complete understanding of the unusual materials in the study. Chan’s and Darancet’s work demonstrates Argonne’s Core Values of Impact, Integrity and Teamwork.

Each month, the PSE Associate Laboratory Director and Division Directors review PSE Employees 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.