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Lane Carasik, Ph.D., receives Social Responsibility in the Nuclear Community Award from the American Nuclear Society

March 17, 2023

Lane Carasik, Ph.D., mechanical and nuclear engineering assistant professor, (left) and Lisa Marshall (right) are presented with the Social Responsibility in the Nuclear Community Award from the American Nuclear Society.
Lane Carasik, Ph.D., mechanical and nuclear engineering assistant professor, (left) and Lisa Marshall (right) are presented with the Social Responsibility in the Nuclear Community Award from the American Nuclear Society.

Lane Carasik, Ph.D., mechanical and nuclear engineering assistant professor, recently received the Social Responsibility in the Nuclear Community Award from the American Nuclear Society (ANS). He was co-awarded the honor with Kalin Kiesling, Ph.D., from Argonne National Laboratory, and Lisa Marshall, from NC State University.

The award recognized the trio’s work in establishing the diversity, equity and inclusion committee within the ANS to provide a voice and promote representation for underserved groups in the organization. Formerly the Professional Women in ANS Committee, the reorganized group, Diversity and Inclusion in ANS Committee, maintains its original focus on advancing gender diversity focused on representation of women in ANS while expanding to a larger umbrella of underrepresented or marginalized groups within the Society.

“We each put a lot of effort into this new committee. There is much more work to be done, but it feels great to be recognized by our peers and colleagues,” said Carasik. “In addition to the award, every time an ANS member pulls me aside and says the committee made them feel they had a place in the society, I feel we’re making real progress. The same goes for when ANS members feel comfortable coming to me to discuss the diversity, equity and inclusion issues facing them in their current job or organization.”

Next on the ANS Committee's agenda for Diversity and Inclusion is continuing to expand efforts to educate and build community within the nuclear field – addressing many long standing issues regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. One of the current focuses is to create large-scale initiatives to engage professionals and students from underrepresented communities. This includes items like expanding travel grant programs to fully fund students from underserved communities who want to attend ANS national meetings.

Carasik, who has served in the committee’s senior leadership since 2018, is stepping down from his leadership position, but will continue to be engaged with the committee.

“It’s important to give a chance for others to lead,” Carasik said. “We accomplished a lot and I am excited to continue supporting the goals we’ve set from within our new committee.”