STEM Professional Development Program at Nevada National Security Sites*

This article describes the programs, processes, and methodologies of STEM professional development at Nevada National Security Sites (NNSS). NNSS has been working with University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) for the Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program (MSIPP) to provide a sustainable pipeline of adequately qualified science and technology professionals for Nuclear Security Science and Technology Consortium (NSSTC), one of the 33 consortia within MSIPP. Nuclear engineering faculties at UNLV, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of New Mexico, and security experts at Nevada National Security Site, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory are collaborating to address the complex issues in the topical research area of nuclear security. The NSSTC provides students with practical experience and training through research projects and experiential learning. In particular, it has been successful in hosting for last two consecutive years graduate interns from MSIs during the summer to provide a 12-week long hands-on training and exposure to nuclear security related experimentation at the NNSS. Special mention will be made of the joint radiation measurement campaign with UNLV unmanned aerial systems and NNSS robots on the ground during July 2023.