What happens after a PhD, but before a scientist is fully established?

At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, that in-between stage is treated as a proving ground. LLNL postdocs are given rare facilities, hard problems, mentorship, career development time, and a community built around collaboration.

The result is more than professional development. It’s the moment a scientist starts becoming the person others look to for answers.

Guests featured (in order of appearance):

• Tomi Akindele - Systems Modeling and Evaluation Group Leader, Physics Division, LLNL
• Ted Baumann - Chemist and Postdoc Program Lead, LLNL

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced by Levi Hanusch.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Matthew Powell.

Script by Caroline Kidd

Story Editing by Levi Hanusch.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At the National Lab Research SLAM, scientists from all 17 Department of Energy national laboratories get three minutes and a single slide to explain years of complex research to people who aren't scientists. This is the story of how Lawrence Livermore built a program to teach its researchers a skill that turns out to be as essential as the science itself: making the work understandable.

Guests featured (in order of appearance):

• Brandon Zimmerman - Staff Scientist, LLNL
• Christine Zachow - Operations Manager, LLNL

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced by Levi Hanusch.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Matthew Powell.

Story Editing by Levi Hanusch.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In September 2023, a small NASA capsule streaked through Earth’s atmosphere and landed in the Utah desert, carrying 122 grams of material from the asteroid Bennu. That material has existed for more than four and a half billion years, preserving clues from the earliest moments of the solar system. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a team of scientists is now studying tiny fragments of the sample with extraordinary precision, examining isotopes and microscopic minerals to read the stories locked inside. As studies continue, they are revealing how some of the ingredients used by life on Earth are also present in ancient space rocks.

Guests featured (in order of appearance):

• Greg Brennecka - Staff Scientist, LLNL
• Thomas Kruijer - Staff Scientist, LLNL

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced by Levi Hanusch.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Matthew Powell.

Script by Caroline Kidd

Story Editing by Levi Hanusch.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.