NIF & PS People - 2016

March

NIF Highlighted at My Brother’s Keeper Event

Examples of NIF targets and videos showing how NIF works were among the demonstrations featured during a March 2 “My Brother’s Keeper” (MBK) event at LLNL. More than 180 visitors, mostly disadvantaged boys and girls from local school districts in Oakland, San Francisco, Concord, West Contra Costa, Richmond, and Tracy, visited the Laboratory as part of a White House initiative launched by President Obama in 2014.

Simon Cohen, NIF & Photon Science Deputy for Operations & Alignment and Optical Systems Manager, takes “My Brother’s Keeper” participants on a virtual tour of the NIF Target Bay. Credit: Jason Laurea

The program aims to address the opportunity gap faced by boys and young men of color, connect young people to mentors, and instill a passion for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

One way to prepare all of America’s youth for these opportunities is to share some of the work being done in the national laboratories and help them meet STEM leaders. Last month the White House sponsored a National Week at the Labs in coordination with the White House Council on Women and Girls and the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force to bring together scientists, engineers, and lab workers to inspire students as they spend the day performing experiments and participating in STEM mentoring sessions.

“MBK is about obliterating the barriers our kids face,” said MBK Task Force Chair Broderick Johnson. “It’s about building strong, lasting bridges to opportunity for boys and girls, young men and young women, no matter what their background or the circumstances into which they were born.

“It’s about investing in what works, acting with a sense of urgency, basing strategies on data and evidence, and having the courage to call-out and tear down discrimination in every system and policy where it shows up,” Johnson said. “And, in two years we could not be more excited about the momentum, energy, and enthusiasm that has been sparked all across the country.”

Last summer the Department of Energy chose LLNL as a site for the first of several MBK events at the national laboratories, drawing more than 60 youths from Oakland, San Francisco and Tracy.

This year’s event at LLNL included a video introduction from DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz, a “Fun With Science” demonstration, lunch with Lab scientists and engineers who answered questions on educational pathways and careers in STEM, and hands-on workshops and demonstrations.