Our Nuclear Family: Empowering Parents and Caregivers in the Nuclear Industry

Marsha serves as Director, International Engagement, at Idaho National Laboratory. McDaniel previously served as a United States diplomat focused on trade promotion, with assignments at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, China, and the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, India. Marsha received numerous awards and honors during her diplomatic service, including a Meritorious Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State.

A longtime gender equity advocate, McDaniel has led numerous initiatives focused on improving conditions for women in the workplace. McDaniel currently serves as Chair of Idaho Women in Nuclear, which is a nonprofit organization with the goal of positioning the United States for the future of nuclear energy through the advancement of women.

Marsha holds a BA in International Affairs from George Washington University and an MA in Government from Johns Hopkins University. She also earned a Certificate in Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government. She studied Mandarin Chinese at the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Institute.

Cheryl worked for 34 years first at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard as a Naval Architect and then at the Idaho National Laboratory in engineering and management for Westinghouse, Lockheed-Martin, Bechtel, and Battelle subsidiaries as a Registered Professional Engineer. As one of few women in senior management she directed Engineering Programs including criticality and nuclear safety, engineering design, and structural analysis. Her management career included bringing green building design and clean energy advocacy to the Laboratory as one of the first LEEDTM Accredited Professionals in Idaho. With a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in civil engineering, she focused her technical expertise is natural hazard structural analysis. She was invited to speak on natural disaster testing in Tokyo and Gold Coast, and planned international conferences and led technical sessions in Manchester, Prague, Helsinki, and Mumbai. Post career, she completed a Doctor of Arts degree in Political Science with a focus on state legislative adoption of nuclear energy policy and understanding attitudes and risk perception. She then worked as Associate Director for a non-profit organization advancing women in business before founding Vision for Inclusive Engineering Workforce, Inc. in 2023.

Cheryl’s board experience includes serving as an officer of the Yellowstone Business Partnership, and on Energy Systems Technology & Education Technology Center and University of Idaho Civil Engineering advisory boards. She is currently serving as a governor appointed trustee of the Idaho State Historical Society and member of the Lewis and Clark Trail Committee.

Todd is a professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at Oregon State University, where he has been since 1995. Todd's fields of interest include numerical techniques for radiation transport and diffusion, reactor physics, general numerical methods, Monte Carlo methods, radiation transport in stochastic mixtures, and computational fluid dynamics. Prior to Oregon State, Todd served as a physicist, defense sciences, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1991-1994). While at Oregon State, he has served as a consultant to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Siemens Nuclear Power Corporation.

He holds a BS and MS in Nuclear Engineering from Oregon State University and a PhD in Nuclear Engineering and Scientific Computing from University of Michigan.

Kristin is a licensed professional civil engineer, project manager, and environmental advocate with over 22 years of experience in energy. Kristin leads PG&E’s Generation Strategic Sourcing team, including materials and services sourcing responsibility for California's largest source of emissions-free electricity at Diablo Canyon as well as strategic sourcing for PG&E's hydro, renewable, and fossil assets. Kristin has previous experience in engineering, power plant decommissioning, planning, projects, and higher education.

Kristin is a co-founder of Mothers for Nuclear, and she believes in supporting all clean energy sources to address major humanitarian and environmental issues. Along with Heather Hoff, Kristin founded Mothers for Nuclear in 2016 to advocate for clean energy, focusing on the protection and expansion of nuclear energy around the world. Mothers for Nuclear was profiled in The New Yorker,

Kristin has three young children who inspire her passion for environmental action. She is a past president of the North American Young Generation in Nuclear and has served on various environmental nonprofit boards. Kristin holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and an MBA from Arizona State University WP Carey School of Business.