Sammies
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The Service to America Medals honor federal employees who go above and beyond their job descriptions to serve the public. For the next few months, Federal News Radio is speaking to the finalists. As a diplomat, you don't seek out the easy life. Jonathan Gandomi was the State Department's field representative for the Counter-Lord's Resistance Army Mission. He spent two years on an assignment that has frustrated the world, ridding Africa of one of its oldest and most brutal extremist groups. Gandomi joined Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss his experience in Africa that led to his 2014 Sammies nomination. View a photo gallery of all the Sammies finalists. Read a Q&A and related story.
July 14, 2014 -
The technical name for one of the Army's communications networks is Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment Two. But some soldiers prefer to call it their digital guardian angel. Another calls it the holy grail of communication. Now one of the creators of the Army's WIN-T system is receiving prestigious recognition for his role in its creation. Patrick DeGroodt is Deputy Project Manager for the Department of the Army. He's a Service to America medal finalist in the National Security and International Affairs category. He explained the creation process on In Depth with Francis Rose. Read a Q&A with DeGroodt.
July 09, 2014 -
Sean C. Young and Benjamin J. Tran, two electronics engineers with the Air Force Research Lab created an aerial sensor that has helped U.S. service members to find and destroy dangerous improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan.
July 07, 2014 -
The Service to America Medals honor federal employees who go above and beyond their job descriptions to serve the public. For the next few months, Federal News Radio will be speaking to the finalists. A civilian engineer is reshaping the way the military performs operations in the air and on the field. Sean Young is an electronics engineer with the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio. He helped save soldiers' lives in Afghanistan by creating a new aerial sensor system to detect improvised explosive devices. For his creativity, he is a finalist in the National Security and International Affairs category of the 2014 Sammies awards. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to talk about his nomination. View a gallery of all the Sammies nominees. Read a Q&A with Sean Young.
July 07, 2014 -
As head of the Antarctic Sciences Section of the National Science Foundation's Division of Polar Programs, Scott Gerald Borg oversees the funding and helps plot the direction of scientific research in Antarctica.
July 07, 2014 -
Helping coordinate the discovery of a new species of dinosaur is no ordinary accomplishment. But try discovering two new species and collecting a 15-million-year-old water sample trapped half a mile below the surface of Antarctica. Scott Borg, head of the Antarctic Sciences Section in the Division of Polar Programs at the National Science Foundation, is a Service to America medal finalist in the Career Achievement category. Borg and his team support university researchers and scientists to help make their scientific visions a reality. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he explains what draws him to this kind of work. View a photo gallery of other SAMMIES finalists. Read a Q&A with Borg.
July 02, 2014 -
The U.S. Agency for International Development is making drinking water safer in Kenya and Uganda. It's a bread and butter issue for the development agency, but the solution is different. Jill Boezwinkle has taken a crowd-sourced idea and turned it into reality in the Dispensers for Safe Water program. Now, she is a finalist in the national security and international affairs category of the 2014 Sammies awards. She joined Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss her role in the Dispensers for Safe Water program.
June 30, 2014 -
For two decades, Douglas James Norton, senior environmental scientist in the Environmental Protection Agency's Watershed Branch, has been spearheading projects to help maintain the health of America's rivers, streams and lakes.
June 24, 2014 -
The Service to America Medals honor federal employees who go above and beyond their job descriptions to serve the public. As a senior scientist in the Environmental Protection Agency's Watershed Branch, Doug Norton has led projects to protect the nation's waterways for more than two decades. His colleagues call him a can-do person who uses the latest technology to communicate with environmental officials and the public. Now, he is a finalist in the citizen services category of the 2014 Sammies awards. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the importance of the public understanding the local waterways. Read a related story.
June 23, 2014 -
A small team at the U.S. Agency for International Development is helping developing nations find financial aid. Jason Fleming is the Latin America-Caribbean and Europe-Eurasia Team Leader of the Development Credit Authority. So far, he and his team have generated more than $1 billion in financial assistance for 42 developing countries. For that work, they're finalists in the Call To Service category in this year's Service to America medals. He explained how the agency's loan guarantee program works on In Depth with Jared Serbu. View a photo gallery of all Sammies finalists or read a Q&A with Jason Fleming
June 18, 2014 -
The U.S. Agency for International Development is helping build hospitals and medical centers around the world by channeling smart investments through commercial banks in developing countries.
June 18, 2014 -
For her efforts in raising awareness of the regulatory challenges the Food and Drug Administration was facing due to globalization, the Partnership for Public recently named GAO's Marcia Crosse as one of the finalists for the 2014 Citizen Services Medal.
June 16, 2014 -
The Service to America Medals honor federal employees who go above and beyond their job descriptions to serve the public. Federal News Radio will be speaking to the finalists. As the director of healthcare at the Government Accountability Office, Marcia Crosse has drawn Congress' attention to needs at the Food and Drug Administration. Her boss says she's been at the forefront of her field: identifying needed improvements in the oversight of medical products. In part because of her work, the FDA now has more tools to regulate drugs and medical devices from overseas. Crosse is a finalist in the citizen services category of the 2014 Sammies awards. She joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the data she analyzes. Read a Q&A with Marcia Crosse.
June 16, 2014 -
Saving lives around the world has a Federal doctor in line for a Service to America Medal. Dr. Rana Hajjeh is director of the Division of Bacterial Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She's a Sammies finalist in the National Security and International Affairs category. She tells Federal News Radio's Francis Rose on In Depth the virus she and her team promoted the vaccine for isn't well known, but the consequences are. View a photo gallery of all Sammies finalists.
June 11, 2014 -
For her efforts in creating a data analysis system to measure the performance of federal housing programs, the Partnership for Public Service recently named HUD's Sara Meyers as one of the finalists for the 2014 Call to Service Medal.
June 09, 2014