The Office of Science hosted the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Research and Technology Investment Committee (RTIC) meeting on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at DOE Headquarters in February. The RTIC was established in 2019 to bring together the key elements of DOE that support research and development activities, coordinate their strategic research priorities, and identify potential crosscutting opportunities in both basic and applied science and technology.

During the one-day workshop, each DOE program highlighted their major STEM programs, efforts, and objectives, focusing on STEM as an important driver for training and a tool for recruiting top talent from universities to join the DOE team. Many of the presenters acknowledged the broader message and importance the program bears for the future competitiveness of the nation’s scientific research programs.

The DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM) supports STEM-related activities for all educational levels. Denise Freeman, LM communications liaison and HQ STEM coordinator, provided an overview of LM STEM outreach and education activities, including internships, work-based training, course-based training, curriculum development, applied science and technology fellowships, STEM competitions, and hiring programs.

“The workshop was very valuable because it brought together many of the DOE elements to share their STEM activities and objectives,” said Freeman. “It is important that we ask ourselves what we can do with the information in the future to support and improve all of our program STEM initiatives.”