NREL Mentors Rock!
Interns Praise Mentors for Supporting Their Goals and Navigating Challenges
Mentors play an integral role to the success of interns and postdocs. Honoring mentors at the end of each summer is a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) tradition. Since 2013, mentees have submitted Outstanding Mentor nominations to highlight the support received from their mentors.
“It’s always important to give recognition to people who do important work,” said Kysa Samu, NREL Workforce Development graduate intern. “I think mentors especially deserve that recognition. I know the last couple years haven’t been easy, but the mentors have been able to adapt their mentorship approaches throughout COVID and going remote.”
NREL mentors are trusted advisors, teachers, and coaches for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Mentors help their mentees succeed by facilitating a safe and professional work environment and providing guidance for research projects.
In recent years, NREL’s mentorship program has grown extensively. Earlier this year, NREL launched its new mentor training program. Also, the Mentor Network Working Group was established as a resource for mentors, specifically to help members of the Women’s Network become more effective mentors.
NREL’s rich history of mentorship has created a mentor cycle where interns receive excellent mentorship, continue their careers at NREL as a researcher, and mentor the next generation of great mentors. This positive mentor cycle is part of the outstanding mentorship that continues at NREL. Additionally, NREL mentors benefit from the diverse perspectives the interns bring from their burgeoning careers.
“Our undergraduate and graduate interns and postdoctoral researchers are the scientific workforce of tomorrow,” said Peter Green, NREL science and technology officer and deputy laboratory director. “Helping young scientists to foster their passions, ask key questions, and step outside their comfort zones is inherent to the mentorship process.”
Mentors help NREL interns feel welcome and provide support for research projects and scientific inquiry. This year, mentors and mentees met unique challenges and benefited from new opportunities. In the new hybrid work environment, technological and communication challenges were prevalent as many interns split their time between working remotely and on-site. Some mentors also had the unique experience of working with fully remote or hybrid interns and learned to balance their time accordingly.
However, Samu said, the flexibility that comes with hybrid and remote work environments gave NREL the unique opportunity to work with interns who may not have previously considered internships at the laboratory. The new work environment expanded the intern talent pool, and interns were able to work from states across the country.
“While many interns wanted to be on-site, mentors did their best to accommodate their deliverables and coach them from afar,” Samu said.
Through everything, the mentors supported their interns. From teaching them new concepts and guiding them through research projects, to providing helpful feedback and perspectives when the interns asked for advice, the mentors proved that this level of support is necessary to cultivate a thriving workforce.
“NREL mentors play a critical role in the academia-to-workforce pipeline,” Peter said. “With the appropriate support, interns grow intellectually and achieve their future goals. We are proud of the ways that NREL mentors have supported the development of student interns; this investment is creating the thriving workforce of the future, particularly in the field of clean energy.”
Recognizing NREL’s Outstanding Mentors
This year, interns submitted slides that explained why their mentors “rock” and the ways the mentees felt supported during their time at NREL. Below are 10 examples of the praise mentors received from NREL interns.
Cara Lubner
Biosciences summer intern mentor to Kallie Asher
“Cara is a great listener,” Asher said. “She always takes what team members have to say into consideration. Cara invites members of other groups to join us in meetings, which allows us to learn more about the other areas of research in our lab.”
Erik Rognerud
Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences year-round mentor to intern Jennifer Quigley
“Erik was not only a mentor to me, but he also acted as a resource for many others in our group and lab,” Quigley said. “He was a champion of NREL’s safety policies and made sure any concerns were addressed. On top of being a mentor and working on his own experiments, as the lab’s designated area representative, Erik was constantly trying to improve the lab physically and culturally to create the best experience for the many people using the space.”
Ankur Podder
Building Technologies and Science Center summer intern mentor to Samantha Eddy
“Ankur comes to our meetings excited and is always ready to listen and learn from me,” Eddy said. “Ankur understands that my identity is important to me and validates my passion.”
Bruce Perry
High Performance Algorithms summer intern mentor to Kiran Eiden
“Bruce has struck a good balance between offering guidance and letting me control the path I take in the project,” Eiden said.
John Yarbrough
National Wind Technology Center year-round mentor to intern Jessica Schipper
“John is the best mentor because he always keeps my spirits high even when things go awry,” Schipper said. “He always has my best interest in mind and has worked hard to keep me connected during my mostly remote internship.”
Alicen Kandt
Energy Security and Resilience year-round intern mentor to Bonnie Powell
“Alicen is an exceptional engineer and mentor, ensuring I have the right amount of work on my plate and encouraging me to advocate for myself,” Powell said.
Ling Tao
Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scale-Up Center year-round mentor to intern Md Mosleh Uddin
“Ling solves the problem together with me and thinks out loud,” Uddin said. “This process helps the intern learn problem-solving more effectively from an expert’s perspective. Ling shows the vision of the work from the intern’s perspective; for example, she says, ‘We will publish this work in a high-quality journal that will give you a great boost in your career.’ These qualities set her aside from others.”
Koenraad Beckers
Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Center summer intern mentor to Charley Walton
“He recognizes my limitations and sets reasonable expectations for my work,” Walton said. “Koenraad stands out because he is kind, easy to talk to, and provides the right kind of guidance for me to be successful.”
Peter Rupnowski
Chemistry and Nanoscience year-round intern mentor to James Brock
“Peter stands out with his willingness to be available for his interns’ needs as well as his ability to be thoroughly involved in all of his interns’ projects,” Brock said. “Whether it be troubleshooting experimental setup, brainstorming ideas for future experiments, or providing supplemental information that will aid the work being performed, he always finds time to help.”
James McCall
Strategic Energy Analysis Center summer intern mentor to Dlynzee Damas
“James stands out because he always adjusts his communication to my personality style, which in fact helps me to be more enthusiastic about learning and identify my own strengths and weaknesses and know how to use them for a great career satisfaction,” Damas said.
Visit NREL Careers for information about undergraduate and graduate internships at NREL.