The “big secret” to a career in national security is passion, says Moe Khaleel, who leads the National Security Sciences Directorate at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “Our people are here because they believe in the mission, and they understand that their work has immediate impacts on national security challenges, such as cybersecurity, human security, and nuclear nonproliferation.”
NSSD’s staff have diverse backgrounds in areas that complement many of ORNL’s research missions – computer science, data analytics, engineering, chemistry, materials science. However, for many students and early-career professionals, the individual paths that lead from these science and technical fields to careers supporting national security are shrouded in mystery.
“That’s why workforce development is critical,” said Ashley Humphrey, an international security and policy analyst in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Division, whose own career sprouted from an English degree. Humphrey credits her mentors for exposing her to career opportunities she had never considered. “Mentoring is one of the most important activities we can do to enrich national security science because many students are unfamiliar with the jobs available and lack real examples of career paths,” she said.
Many of Humphrey’s NSSD colleagues say mentoring has been a substantial part of their growth and journey to national security science careers. Bobby Bridges, a research scientist in the Cyber Resilience and Intelligence Division, benefited from an undergraduate internship that fueled his passion for mathematics and enabled him to pursue a career in research.
“These [mentoring] opportunities can offer important insights for the next-generation workforce and inform early-career decisions that shape future successes,” Bridges said.
Mentors across NSSD point to a passion for giving back and a responsibility to invest in the future national security workforce. Geospatial scientist Nagendra Singh, who has been a mentor through several ORNL educational programs, says mentors are “catalysts” for success. “It is my responsibility, and it gives me joy, to give back and share my knowledge and experience to help others succeed,” he said.
Mentors benefit from the opportunities, too. “Engaging younger generations is one of the best ways to stay sharp in your field and expand professional networks that fuel opportunities and advance new discoveries,” said group leader Dalton Lunga, Singh’s colleague in the Geospatial Science and Human Security Division.
To celebrate National Mentoring Month, these four NSSD professionals are sharing their perspectives on mentorship and offering advice to prospective mentees. Click the stories below to learn more about opportunities in national security science. – Ashley Huff and Liz Neunsinger
As an International Security and Policy Analyst in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Ashley Humphrey supports bilateral and multilateral initiatives with international partners and agencies and the National Nuclear Security Administration to strengthen International Nuclear Security. She values the relationships that develop from international collaboration and diplomacy and stays intellectually intrigued by the ever-evolving nuclear security industry.
As a research scientist in the Cyber Resilience and Intelligence Division at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Robert (Bobby) Bridges uses mathematics and machine learning to develop security and privacy solutions. His path to national security sciences was made possible, he says, by dedicated mentors who helped him along the way.
As a group leader and senior research scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dalton Lunga leads the Lab’s Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) group, which leverages high-performance computing, machine learning, and computer vision to create foundational geospatial analytic methods enabling at scale data generation to shed light on patterns of life and aid in crisis management. His career journey, he says, is indebted to many mentors who served as guides along the way.
As a research scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Nagendra Singh uses geospatial science and technology to understand the consequences of climate and land use change on population dynamics and critical infrastructure. During this time he has mentored several students as part of various short- and long-term research opportunities at the Lab.
