Alumni Spotlight:

What I Do Now: I am a senior nuclear oversight auditor for Constellation. This is a recent position I moved into, where I go around to several nuclear energy facilities to ensure that their workers follow protocol, procedures and regulatory requirements. As a nuclear professional, part of my job is to promote nuclear energy as a clean, green and no carbon emission source.

How the Hartwick Experience Impacted My Professional Life: Being a member of the Hartwick swimming and diving program for all four years at Hartwick taught me translational skills that I apply in my everyday life and career. Being on the team helped me grow confidence and develop time management skills while balancing my academic curriculum and intense swim schedule. I learned how to work well not only as an individual but as a contributing member of a team. I also gained lifelong friends that I still talk to today!

My coach, Dale Rothenberger, was more like a life coach; he helps his athletes grow and develop into confident leaders. Being a student-athlete was such a big part of my life and really helped me both personally and in my current career! Academically, I was amazed by the instrumentation and resources that Hartwick offered to perform specific analytical chemistry analyses, which was essential in sparking my interest in becoming a bioanalytical chemist.

Challenges in the Field: The public perception of nuclear energy poses a challenge. When I mention that I work at a nuclear power plant, there is a stigma associated with the term “nuclear.” People automatically think of nuclear weapons and nuclear events such as Chernobyl, which was a bad reactor design, Fukushima, which was impacted by an earthquake and tsunami, and the Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident, which was contained in the reactor and no radioactivity was released to the public. Also, the media has a lot of misconceptions, in particular, the (TV program) The Simpsons, with the oozing green radwaste drums stored inappropriately, operators sleeping in the main control room and three-eyed fish or mutated spiders, which is all fiction and not the slightest bit accurate!

My Favorite Aspect of My Career: I spent eight years as an instrument chemist prior to my current position at Constellation. I am a very analytical person, so running a lab and making sure all the instruments were working right was very enjoyable for me. I felt as though each instrument had a personality and made it feel more personable working with each instrument. Transitioning into my new role was a new way to challenge myself to start working with a team and helping other groups within the company improve.

My Advice for Current Students: Don’t let anyone dim your light. Make them wear sunglasses so they do not get blinded by your brilliance! Do what makes you happy and what you actually want to do. Don’t just follow along with others’ expectations for you. You should come up with a plan for what you want to do in your future, but be okay if what happens doesn’t go according to plan. 99% of the time, it does not go according to plan! Sometimes, you end up in places you never expected, but it might be a better plan than you could have ever imagined!

Spotlight by Stella Giustino ’25