The “energy” in Energy Sciences Network may refer to our Department of Energy origins, but ESnet is powered by a diverse group of talented, passionate people.
Although the pace of hiring at ESnet has slowed following the completion of the ESnet6 project in 2022, we welcomed 14 new staff members and contractors in 2023, ending the year with 132. This represents a 4.7% increase for CY2023 over 2022. And as we continue to recalibrate after ESnet6 and look ahead to ESnet7, ESnet will keep adjusting our departments and groups. This “organism chart” captures our structure as of December 2023.
ESnet’s Culture
ESnet believes an organization’s culture grows from the ground up, person by person, and needs careful direction and proper nourishment to thrive. In 2023, ESnet’s Culture & Engagement (C&E) Committee shepherded multiple efforts to strengthen community and foster a greater sense of belonging and trust amongst our staff. Two highlights:
Setting a baseline: ESnet conducted a rigorous, 70-question all-staff survey to measure the health of our culture, which garnered an impressive 89% participation rate.
92% strongly agreed or agreed with the statement “I am proud to work for ESnet”
88% strongly agreed or agreed with the statement “I would happily recruit qualified friends to join ESnet.”
Defining our values: We undertook an organization-wide values-defining effort to encourage all staff to make the connection between their personal values, Lab values, and what they felt was specific to ESnet. The C&E Values subcommittee was inspired by a Harvard Business Review article underscoring the importance of a combined bottoms-up/top-down approach to articulating values.
Leadership Development Program
Recognizing that strong leadership is essential for organizational success, ESnet continued its investment in leadership development for our staff in 2023. Under the direction of a leadership consulting firm, a second cohort of 20 ESnet employees (this time both emerging leaders and current managers) participated in a five-month program. The MOR Lead From Where You Are program for ESnet incorporated a blend of in-person workshops, virtual group discussions, personalized coaching, and peer support to cover key areas such as strategic thinking, change management, and interpersonal skills.
By providing a shared framework and vocabulary for leadership and effective collaboration, the training is helping to build a strong pipeline of future leaders for ESnet.
Women in IT Networking at SC (WINS)
For the past nine years, ESnet has co-led a workforce development/diversity initiative at the SC conference, called WINS, for Women in IT Networking at SC. The program, a joint effort between ESnet, Indiana University, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and other organizations, was developed to address the gender gap in information technology, particularly in the field of network engineering.
Through a competitive application process, WINS selects and provides travel funding for early- to mid-career women to participate as SCinet volunteers (see page XX). They are matched with a SCinet team and a mentor based on skills and interest area, which range from wireless networking to IP routing, from fiber-optic cable installation to cybersecurity. In 2023, ESnet served on the WINS management team and assisted with the application process and selection process. SC23 featured seven new grantees as well as funding for six returning participants, among the many others who continue to return to SCinet as volunteers funded by their home institutions. ESnet directly funded five participants (two new and three returning).
The participants selected came from all over the world and from a diverse group of institutions ranging from R1 research schools to community and tribal colleges. In addition to the 2023 WINS cohort, 11 prior WINS participants – many of whom hold current leadership roles on the SCinet team – returned with their own institutional funding to participate in SCinet.
Student Internships
ESnet staff are committed to mentoring students through paid internships with the goal of increasing diversity and widening the career pipeline for networking. In 2023, ESnet hosted 19 students: four Ph.D. students, three master’s students, seven undergraduates, and through the Berkeley Lab Experiences in Research (EinR) program, five high school students.
For 12 to 16 weeks, they worked alongside scientists and engineers on hands-on research projects including SENSE, High Touch, QUANT-NET, quantum error correction, network automation, visualization of network flow data, and programmability p4 innovation.
“Much of the things I am doing in the project were things I could not have imagined were in my ability to even try,” said Ella Jeon, one of ESnet’s 2023 high school interns. “The boost of guidance and support in this internship has made me realize how much more I could go on to try and achieve on my own as well.”
