News Archive

Johnson Aina, Idaho State University, and Jordan Noey, University of Michigan

"The best teachers are those who tell you where to look – but don't tell you what to see."
         –attributed to Alexandra K. Trenfor

Dave Allard, left, and Robert Olsen
Submitted photo

With great pleasure, we share the impact of the Health Physics Society (HPS) HP Connect mentorship program through one of our former students, Robert Olsen, who was connected with a mentor, Dave Allard, in 2020. Ever since they were connected, they have maintained healthy and intermittent contact. Not minding the distance between them, Dave offered excellent guidance to his mentee and helped him to contextualize his progression in the field of health physics. In addition, Dave exposed his mentee to opportunities, connected him with his colleagues, and helped arrange meetings with health physics experts. Over the past two years, Robert's network with health physics professionals has grown immensely due to the excellent mentorship offered by Dave. As a result, he has also been well-equipped as he made decisions about his career.

Recently, Robert completed his obligation in the US Navy and has begun working at the Nuclear Security Division of the International Atomic and Energy Agency (IAEA). He currently develops tools and methods that enable Member States to stop the illicit movement of nuclear material across their borders through enhanced detection measures. Although distance had been a barrier between Dave and Robert, that will never be a hindrance to keeping communication flowing between the two. Recently, Robert met Dave for the first time in person at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna because of a project he is working on.

Indeed, this mentorship and networking experience was a fruitful and rewarding because of the commitment and hard work shown on both ends. We, therefore, use this medium to thank all our mentors over the years who have been involved in impactful mentorship to all our students and early career professionals. We want to encourage them not to give up as this work is a rewarding experience. Also, we want to encourage those who still need or want to be involved in this rewarding and fulfilling experience to give the mentorship program and our other mentorship and networking activities a try!

The HPS Student Support Committee is committed to the success of all our students by helping them find their footing, achieve their dreams, and overall, be good ambassadors of the HPS. We will continue to work to accomplish this purpose through all our outstanding programs, such as speed networking, academic presentations and workshops (both virtual and in person), and other activities at the HPS meetings.