The Energy Department has chosen agency veteran Laura Wilkerson as deputy manager at the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) in Tennessee.
Wilkerson has been at DOE for 25 years and was previously director of OREM’s Planning and Execution Division, which helps coordinate remediation at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
In her new role, Wilkerson will manage day-to-day cleanup operations at the 32,000-acre Oak Ridge Reservation. “We are very fortunate to have Laura help lead our organization forward as we begin crucial new phases of cleanup at Y-12 and ORNL,” OREM Manager Jay Mullis said in a Wednesday press release. “She brings an extensive amount of experience and in-depth knowledge about both of those sites, our employees, vision, goals, and challenges, and she will use that to ensure we maintain our momentum.”
Environmental Management at Oak Ridge has lacked a permanent deputy manager since Mullis was promoted to the top slot in November 2017. Wilkerson and David Adler, both division directors at OREM, have served stints as acting deputy manager since then.
Previously at Oak Ridge, Wilkerson served as a portfolio federal project director for cleanup and waste management at Y-12 and transuranic waste disposition. She also was the portfolio federal project director for the $630 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds that OREM received during the Obama administration. She started at the Energy Department as a program manager for facilities and infrastructure at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
“It’s an honor to continue working alongside Oak Ridge’s outstanding men and women who are transforming the region and setting the standard for cleanup nationwide,” Wilkerson said in the DOE press release.
