Idaho National Laboratory names Science and Technology Director

Idaho National Laboratory Director Mark Peters has announced Dr. Marianne Walck will become the laboratory’s new director for Science and Technology. Walck will also serve as chief research officer beginning January 7, 2019.

“I am excited to have Marianne join the Laboratory to provide strategic leadership, direction, and integration for research, science, and technology at INL,” said Peters.

Walck was vice president of Sandia’s California laboratory and served as lead for Sandia’s Energy and Climate Program and has over 25 years of DOE National Laboratory leadership experience.

In California, she was responsible for principal programs, including nuclear weapons stewardship. Her work with Homeland Security focused on defending against weapons of mass destruction, combustion, transportation, and hydrogen energy research.

Sandia’s Energy and Climate Program includes a variety of technology programs including renewable energy systems, energy infrastructure, climate and engineered systems, fossil energy, nuclear and fuel cycle and transportation energy systems.

According to Peters, Walck received a master’s and a doctorate in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in geology/physics from Hope College. She holds memberships in the American Geophysical Union, the Seismological Society of America, the Association for Women Geoscientists, the American Nuclear Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She serves on several advisory boards for universities and technical institutes including the Texas A&M Energy Institute, and is a Senior Fellow of the California Council of Science and Technology.

She will succeed Kelly Beierschmitt, who accepted a position at Los Alamos National Laboratory last July.