Meet the NA-YGN Core

Duncan Robinson
President
president@na-ygn.org

Many thought Duncan had retired from NA-YGN. But, thankfully, he's decided to return for an encore performance. Duncan was president of the Pittsburgh chapter in 2005 and 2006. Along with numerous colleagues, their chapter defined what it meant to participate in the 5th Grade Drawing Contest. Many may not realize this, but Duncan was the second ever U.S. Affairs Chair of NA-YGN. In this capacity, Duncan aided so many chapters kicking off, that he had to enlighten help in the form of Regional chairs. During his sabbatical, Duncan joined Constellation Energy Nuclear Group as Supervisor of PWR Core Design in 2007. He had previously been employed by Westinghouse Electric serving as a core designer and project manager, working with customers such as South Texas Project, VC Summer, and Koeberg.

Duncan is a lifetime member of the University of Michigan Alumni Association where he graduated from with a BS in Nuclear Engineering. Duncan is known for his high level of emotional intelligence, sense of fun and Scottish ancestry. His ability to reason and negotiate with multiple stakeholders simultaneously to change the way we do business is why he is recognized as a leader.



Kristin Zaitz
Vice President
vp@na-ygn.org

Kristin Zaitz started serving as the US Affairs chair in May 2009 and will turn over the position in May 2011. As US Affairs Chair, she worked to align the local chapters under their regional leads, and increase the involvement of regional leads to better serve the rapidly increasing number of local chapters! She served as the NA-YGN West Regional Lead from May 2007 - 2009, where she was instrumental in the planning and implementation of two regional conferences. She was previously the Diablo Canyon YGN Chapter Chair and has been involved in YGN at Diablo Canyon since 2002.

Kristin is a licensed professional civil engineer and project management professional. She works for PG&E at Diablo Canyon Power Plant as a civil engineer. Her job involves seismic analysis, supporting emergent plant issues, maintenance rule support, structural degradation monitoring, and offshore environmental inspections. Aside from the civil engineering gig, she has had various roles at Diablo Canyon, including engineering for major plant projects and construction planning supervisor. In a brief stint outside of nuclear, she was a project engineer at a commercial structural engineering firm.

Kristin graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Civil Engineering. There is nothing in the world that she enjoys more than spending time with her son Oliver, but she also enjoys scuba diving, snowboarding, and running long distances (not at the same time).



Erin West
Professional Development Chair
pd@na-ygn.org

Erin West started as Professional Development Chair in May 2010 after serving as Northeast Regional Lead and acting US Affairs Chair. Erin also served as the PSEG Nuclear Local Chapter Chair from 2009-2010.

Erin is currently a Licensing Supervisor at the Tennessee Valley Authority, working on the Bellefonte Completion Project. Prior to working at the TVA, Erin was on a rotational assignment in Licensing at PSEG Nuclear. Prior to her rotational assignment, Erin was the Environmental and Radwaste Supervisor for Hope Creek Station. She was promoted to this role after 10 months as the Lab Chemist. Erin recognized the opportunities in the nuclear industry and left position as a Research Scientist at DuPont in 2006 for a promising career in the nuclear industry.

Erin attended LaSalle University and earned a BS in biochemistry. She has completed her MBA from Goldey Beacom College in Delaware. She has also completed half of her law degree. When Erin is not at work, she is a busy single mom to two daughters, Alaina and Kallie.



Adam Strange
Treasurer
treasurer@na-ygn.org

Adam Strange began his second round as treasurer in May 2010. Adam started his involvement in NA-YGN by serving on the Duke Energy Chapter. He was elected President of this chapter and also served as the Carolinas Regional Lead. In 2008 he was elected NA-YGN Core Treasurer, and stepped down as Regional Lead of the Carolinas and President of the Carolina Chapter. While Treasurer, Adam created the new NA-YGN Fundraising Strategy that will be rolled out in 2011.

Adam Strange began working in Charlotte, NC for Duke Energy, in 2005. He is an Engineer II in the Safety Analysis Group, where he helps maintain the Chapter 15 analyses for Duke Energy’s three nuclear power plants.

Adam joined Duke after completing his B.S. in Nuclear Engineering at Penn State University in 2005. Outside of NA-YGN Adam is very active as well. He has participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters for 2 years and has a Little Brother that is 13 years old. He also volunteers at International House, a local non-profit, as a home host for international guests visiting the Charlotte area. He has hosted people from Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, and South Africa. Aside from Nuclear his other passion is brewing beer, and serves as the Social VP for the Carolina Brewmasters, He would one day like to have his own brewery for StrangeBrew.




Jana Thames
Communications Chair
communications@na-ygn.org

My name is Jana Meree' Thames and I am a Communications Specialist, at Plant Hatch in Baxley, Georgia, in the public affairs department for Southern Company. My position involves internal communication and public outreach to the outlying areas of Plant Hatch.

Prior to my position in the public affairs department, I was an operator at another Southern Company nuclear power plant, Plant Vogtle, in Waynesboro.

As a member of the North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN) I have worked as a writer and editor of their conservation newsletter, Conserving Tomorrow. I am also a member of the NA-YGN information council and for the 2008-2009-2010 terms, I have also represented NA-YGN in the INPO industry communications council.

My pre-nuclear background includes six years in media working for Clear Channel Broadcasting and two years in law enforcement as a probation officer. I held the positions of promotions director, assistant marketing director, and air personality for a cluster of five FM radio stations and 2 AM radio stations.

I hold a BA in Communications and a Masters in Business.



Christopher Hearn
US Affairs Chair
usa@na-ygn.org

I have been an active member of NA-YGN since late 2007 and have served as the Southeast Regional Lead since early 2009. Since joining NA-YGN I have been successful in identifying specific goals and achieving them along the way. Below is a listing of achievements:
I am currently employed by Bechtel Power Corporation at the Watts Bar Unit 2 Construction Completion Project located in Spring City, TN. I am part of the mechanical resident engineering group supporting construction completion and start-up activities to safely ensure that Watts Bar Unit 2 is the next nuclear unit online in the United States. I was previously in the mechanical design engineering group located in Knoxville, TN for the same project.
I attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where I received my BS in Nuclear Engineering May 2007.




Guadalupe Almazán
Mexican Affairs Chair
mexico@na-ygn.org

María-Guadalupe Almazán-Torres became the Mexican Affair Chair in March 2010. The last year, she has served as the Communication Chair of Youth Association for Nuclear Energy in Mexico (Spanish acronym AJENM). In this role, she helps to inform members about association’s activities. In 2009, she represented this Association at the NA-YGN Professional Development Conference.

Guadalupe obtained her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and her master’s degree in nuclear sciences from State of Mexico University. Moreover, she has a PhD. in Radiochemistry from Paris Sud-11 University.

Currently Guadalupe works as researcher at the National Institute for Nuclear Research (Spanish acronym ININ) in the Nuclear Systems department. In this role, she helps to prepare the Mexican Nuclear Waste Program. Previous this job, she worked on her PhD. project at the Nuclear Physic Institute of Orsay, France. Her research work was focused on radionuclide retention onto phosphate compounds. This kind of study is important for safety assessment of a nuclear waste disposal.



Chris Waugh
Canadian Affairs Chair
canada@na-ygn.org





Morgan Davis
Public Information Chair
pi@na-ygn.org

Morgan was elected to step into the Public Information Chair vacancy in March 2010. Morgan has been an active member of NA-YGN for four years, and was originally introduced to the organization at Palo Verde during an internship. After transferring to Exelon, Morgan served various leadership roles in the Exelon Nuclear West NA-YGN Chapter and eventually became the co-chair of the NA-YGN Student Education Committee in 2009.

Morgan is currently employed by Exelon Nuclear in Morris, IL, as an Environmental Supervisor, where she ensures that the employees at Braidwood Power Station are maintaining environmental compliance, and continuing to look for innovative ways to reduce the site's impact to the environment. Prior to transferring to Chemistry, Morgan was a Primary Systems Engineer at Braidwood, and also worked for the Exelon Nuclear Corporate Office as an Environmental Analyst.

Morgan Davis attended Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. She enjoys the outdoors and frequently visits Arizona to camp and hike with her family. She is a speaker for Clean Energy America Speaker's Bureau and currently coaches high school lacrosse for a local high school. She is very involved in the community and enjoys working with youth and college students to share her passion for the outdoors and nuclear power.



Elizabeth McAndrew-Benavides
Past President
past-president@na-ygn.org

Elizabeth McAndrew-Benavides started serving as Vice President in May 2009. For the previous four years, she has served as the Communication and the US Affairs Chair of NA-YGN. In these roles she helped to organize the Awards Committee, Conservation Committee and Publication Committees. Before being elected to the Core, she was the initiating president of the Calvert Cliffs Chapter of NA-YGN and helped organize the fleet model of young professional chapters at Constellation Energy.

In 2008 McAndrew-Benavides began a new job as Manager of Industry Infrastructure at the Nuclear Energy Institute. In this role she is focused on work force development and supply chain issues for the nuclear industry. Prior to this job, she worked for Constellation Energy in their new nuclear division, UniStar Nuclear. Elizabeth’s work experiences at Constellation Energy including rotations in Operations, Quality & Performance Assurance, Technical Assistant to the Vice President, and Nuclear Engineering department.

In addition to a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering, Elizabeth completed an M.A. in Teaching Leadership from the College of Notre Dame in 2006. This course of study focuses on adult learners and professional training. She is currently working on her PhD. in Organizational Leadership.