International relations student translates data in reports on nuclear safety successes

Troy Alexander credits the mentors and leaders in his life for showing him that success was achievable for him. Today, he is an undergraduate student at San Francisco State University studying international relations and global peace studies. His professor introduced him to the National Nuclear Security Administration Minority Serving Institutions Internship Program (NNSA-MSIIP), where he joined NNSA-MSIIP under the guidance of Foreign Affairs Specialist Alexander Moe. Troy is a participant in the Office of International Nuclear Security (INS).

Troy collaborated with another intern, Wendolyn Martinez, to create thirty one-pagers for INS to inform the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) sector of successes within INS across the sixty nations that cooperate with INS. The one-pagers must be easy to read, as a result Troy and Wendolyn spend time translating data and jargon into reports which can be read by non-scientists.

“I’m gaining an understanding of the importance of taking a global perspective into consideration when cooperating with the United States partners,” he said. “In doing so, it becomes clearer that we have much more in common with the people we share this planet with than we think.”

Troy’s favorite element of the opportunity to date is learning how to prevent an individual from potentially breaking into and harming a nuclear reactor in a laboratory. This hypothetical scenario helped train Troy on the kind of threats that a nuclear reactor may face. He also attended the International Nuclear Security Techniques for Advanced Reactors annual conference at the Idaho National Laboratory. However, his daily tasks mainly consist of reading briefings, participating in high-level meetings and fulfilling assignments delegated to him.

Troy recommends the NNSA-MSIIP program and highlights how creating a more diverse and inclusive governmental body is important for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). After his participation is completed, he wants to become a leader that inspires the next generation in the same way his leaders have inspired him and hopes to make a change by continuing with NNSA in the nuclear foreign policy sector.

“I want to be a great leader and mentor to people who also want to bring out the best this world has to offer. I am excited to see where else life takes me to achieve this goal” he said.

The NNSA-MSIIP Program is funded by NNSA and administered through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). ORISE is managed for DOE by ORAU.