Mary Young’s passion for helping people and her love of the environment led her to LM.
March 21, 2023
minute read time
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management Site Manager Mary Young never pictured herself working for DOE when she started her career as a veterinary hospital manager.
Mary visits the site of an abandoned uranium mine near Sawpit, Colorado.
“Honestly, my path wasn’t always lined out and straight. In college, I initially wanted to focus on marine biology, but I wasn’t getting the experience that I wanted or needed. So, I decided to work full time to support myself instead,” Young said. “After I moved to Colorado, I decided to finish my degree and eventually pursue my master’s.”
Mary is shown with her dog, Chewy (short for Chewbacca) after his eye treatment. “He had a wound he was getting treated with laser therapy to help promote healing, hence the goofy glasses for us both,” she said.
Six months after graduating from Colorado State University, Young learned that LM’s prime contractor was hiring field biologists and ecologists for their new Defense-Related Uranium Mines program.
“While I had no paid fieldwork experience, my undergraduate research was on birds and local native vegetation, which made me an ideal candidate for the field teams.” Young added, “I started on the contract in 2017, then, after a couple of years, I became a field team lead, and a year later was hired on as a project manager for the DRUM team on the federal side.”
Young’s path may not have been the one she envisioned, but others recognized her abilities. In fact, LM Director of Site Operations Jay Glascock said Young’s professional work and leadership immediately stood out to others.
“After Mary was promoted to field team lead by our strategic partner in 2019, she led and managed her own DRUM field team of four science specialists. She not only owned the mission to investigate and validate the condition of these mine sites, but also ensured the team had the information, resources, support, and equipment to complete their investigatory work safely,” Glascock said. “This is especially important since these mines are in geographically remote areas with limited access and cell [phone] coverage.”
In July 2020, LM continued to recognize Young’s potential when LM moved her to the federal team as a physical scientist and DRUM project manager. Young collaborated and coordinated with federal, state, and tribal partners so DRUM field teams could fulfill their mission. She made sure the DRUM team had clear, safe access to mine sites so they could inventory and sample items from the mine sites, and so partner agencies could safeguard the sites’ physical hazards.
“Mary continues to shine and be recognized for work within LM. She has since been transferred from LM’s DRUM team to one of LM’s environmental teams. She is still a physical scientist but is also a site manager now for Green River, Utah; Tonopah Test Range, Nevada; and Rifle, Colorado. This is a key and essential role for LM. She is doing an incredible job and we are very happy to have her at LM,” Glascock added.
As a site manager, Young is responsible for long-term surveillance and maintenance management and regulatory and environmental compliance at each assigned LM site. She works closely with LM’s Strategic Partner contractor employees and technical experts to ensure successful collaboration with LM stakeholders.
“One of the best things about working for LM is that I think I’ll always be learning new things. It takes many disciplines like ecologists, geologists, hydrologists, engineers, working together in this field to be successful,” Young said. “I enjoy working in the communities and building relationships with the locals and other stakeholders.”
Mary presents on her undergraduate research on Climate Change, Food Availability, and Reproductive Success of Mountain Bluebirds and Ash-throated Flycatchers in Western Colorado, primarily Unaweep Canyon. She’s pictured with mentor and local expert “Bluebird Bob” Wilson. “I went on to present this poster at the International Animal Behavior Society Conference in 2016,” she said.
While Young’s passion to help is at the core of her LM work; her dedication, work ethic, and the role models in her life pushed her to achieve.
“One of my main motivations started in elementary school. I wanted to enter the accelerated learning program, but after taking an IQ test, I was told I wasn’t ‘naturally smart’ and that I was just a hard worker,” Young said. “Little did they know that small thing pushed me to prove, for the rest of my life, that I could do anything, whether I was ‘smart’ or not. In turn, I ended up graduating salutatorian of my class and voted to be most successful by my teachers.”
“Of course, that was a long time ago,” Young added. “However, I think that’s the thing I’m most proud of — my tenacity to stay motivated and stick with it through the hard times — because I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.”
As for the role models in her life, Young said the women in her family are her key inspiration.
“The women in my family have always been my strongest supporters and biggest inspirations. While I have traveled a much different path than them, I would not be who I am today without learning from the loving, strong, and intelligent women that I grew up around,” Young said.
“I think that’s why women’s history is so important to remember and celebrate,” Young said, reflecting on Women’s History Month. “All the women who came before me took the steps to allow me to live the way I do today.”
Young supports future generations by participating in every STEM-related event that she can and works to support grants for minority serving institutions.
“Unfortunately, not all women of the world are offered the same opportunities I was. I think it’s important to not only celebrate wins of the past but focus on helping women of the present overcome ‘impossible’ barriers.”