Mark Gilbertson’s official promotion to the No. 2 spot at the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management means added responsibility for his acting replacement as the cleanup office’s head of regulatory and policy issues.
Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management Anne Marie White on Nov. 20 named Gilbertson her permanent principal deputy assistant secretary, or EM-2. Gilbertson had held the job on an acting basis since late August.
White also picked Betsy Connell to fill Gilbertson’s prior role as assistant secretary for EM’s Office of Regulatory and Policy Affairs, on an acting basis.
Connell is currently director of regulatory intergovernmental and stakeholder engagement in that office, according to the latest online EM management chart, dated Nov. 8. White’s announcement did not say whether Connell will continue to handle her current duties while acting as Gilbertson’s replacement.
Connell’s career with the Energy Department and its facilities dates to 1990, with stops at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, and the Idaho National Laboratory, according to her LinkedIn profile. At DOE headquarters, she has served as a senior adviser on the Office of Nuclear Energy and Office of the Secretary. She was chief of staff for EM between September 2015 and September 2017.
