Lanl Community Connections Podcast

Alicia Salazar-Crockett was the top platinum award winner of the 2008 Los Alamos Employees' Scholarship Fund. She received $30,000 towards her education, and earned a bachelor degree in chemical engineering from New Mexico State University. She went on to receive her masters degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan.Now, she reflects on the impact that scholarship made on her life. She interned at the Laboratory each summer, beginning right out of high school. After graduating with her masters in May of 2014, she was hired on as a full-time criticality safety analyst at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She talks with Carole Rutten, deputy director of the LANL Community Programs Office, about her journey.

Kids and adults of all ages will soon be able to explore the nature surrounding Los Alamos, the Pajarito Plateau, the Jemez Mountains and Bandelier National Monument with the new facility that PEEC (Pajarito Environmental Education Center) is moving into. Tune in to a conversation with PEEC executive director Katherine Watson. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Community Programs Deputy Director Carole Rutten asks her what's on tap for 2015 for the new multi-purpose classroom space donated by Los Alamos National Security (LANS), the company that manages the Laboratory.Find out how you can take part in this summer's programming that features everything from PBS Nature Café series to tours through the volcanic fields in the Jemez Mountains and first-class exhibitions in the new planetarium. Visit www.peecnature.org for more information.

What does it mean to be truly committed to the community? As the northern New Mexico's largest employer, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has remained steadfast in their investments through the Community Commitment Plan that Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS) – the company that manages LANL – established in 2006. Even through hard times and budget negotiations, LANS has made strategic investments in education, economic development and community giving.Carol A. Clark, publisher of the Los Alamos Daily Post (the online news source for the community) talks with Carole Rutten, deputy director of the LANL Community Programs Office. Interviewing each other, listeners gain a better understanding of what this commitment to the northern New Mexico region really means.

On December 13, people will gather in national cemeteries nationwide to place wreaths on gravesites to honor and recognize the sacrifices military personnel have made. Wreaths Across America has a goal to place a wreath on every gravesite in every national cemetery across the country. Visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org for more information.Wreaths Across America is now in its 22nd year, launched by a family-owned business in Worcester, Maine. Now in its sixth year in New Mexico, the leading fundraiser in the state is Los Alamos National Laboratory's Community Programs Office and SOC USA, the contractor who provides security onsite at LANL. 

Let's all get out into our communities on November 29, 2014 – it's Small Business Saturday! Now, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, it's the biggest day of the year for small businesses. Kurt Steinhaus, director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Community Programs Office, talks with two local businesses – C.B. Fox and Pet Pangaea – about what shopping locally does for their businesses and the non-profits they support.