Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

As the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory celebrates Women’s History Month throughout March, we asked some of our staff members to tell us what Women’s History Month means to them. This is the fourth of a weekly series throughout March.

Name: Susmitha Bodige

Position: Help Desk technician, PPPL Information Technology Department 

How long at PPPL: Two and a half years

Describe your job:

As the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory celebrates Women’s History Month throughout March, we asked some of our staff members to tell us what Women’s History Month means to them. This is the second of a weekly series throughout March.

Name: Jessica Guttenfelder

Position: Mechanical engineer and technical operations supervisor: Heating systems — neutral beams

How long at PPPL: Five years

Describe your job:

During his 19 years in three branches of the military, Guillaume LaForest has worked on F-14 Tomcats fighter aircraft, traveled to Afghanistan and Kuwait, and served on several bases around the country from Fort Hood, Texas, to Fort Dix, New Jersey. Along the way, he obtained two master’s degrees and carried on his career as a teacher for much of that time. 

Barbara Harrison, PPPL’s new equity, diversity and inclusion business partner, has made an effort to hire a more diverse staff as a talent acquisition specialist at PPPL for the past two years. Now she plans to focus on helping to make the Laboratory’s culture become more diverse and inclusive.

“PPPL needs to be more proactive about diversity and inclusion and anti-racism through recruitment, hiring, and nurturing the talent we have,” said Steve Cowley, PPPL director. “I am delighted to have Barbara bring her experience and insights to this important new role.”

As a first-generation college student, Barbara Garcia had to figure out a lot of things on her own when applying for college. Her parents were Mexican immigrants who didn’t go to college and couldn’t help her navigate the application process, couldn’t help her study for the SATs or look over her application essays. 

“Being a first-generation college student has influenced me by teaching me independence and helping me to carve my own path,” Garcia said. “I didn’t have my parents to guide me toward STEM – I just sort of found it on my own and discovered physics on my own.”