Michael Brandt
Phone: 510-295-7026 | Fax: (510) 486-6498
Location: 50A-4112E
MTBrandt@lbl.gov
Deputy Director for Operations and Chief Operating Officer Michael Brandt oversees Berkeley Lab’s operations and mission support organizations and programs.
Before joining the Lab in March of 2018, Brandt was the Associate Director of Environment, Safety, and Health for Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he led an organization of 750 employees with an operating budget of $150 million. Brandt has more than 30 years of progressively increasing responsibility and accountability for business services, environment, safety, and health; facilities; enterprise risk management; and operations.
He holds a Doctoral and a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan, a Master’s Degree in Environmental Health and Industrial Hygiene from the University of Minnesota, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University.
Edna Annis
Deputy Chief Operating Officer (Interim)
Phone: 510-486-5824
Location: 050A-4112D
SPAnnis@lbl.gov
Edna Annis is the Interim Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and serves as the Lab’s Deputy Chief Financial Officer. She leads the Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s business operations and workforce strategy, and drives cross-functional initiatives to advance institutional priorities. She also serves as a key liaison with Science and Operations leadership, strengthening enterprise-wide alignment and execution, including oversight of the OCFO Strategic Roadmap.
With more than 25 years of experience at Berkeley Lab, Edna brings deep expertise in national laboratory operations, including financial management, strategic risk, procurement, and assurance. She has held several senior leadership roles within the Lab, including Interim CFO, Chief Procurement Officer, and Science Division Business Manager, where she led large, complex organizations and advanced high-performing teams. Edna holds a bachelor’s degree from the National University of Singapore and is a Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Fraud Examiner.
Mary Barnum
Senior Advisor, Office of the Deputy Lab Director for Operations/COO
Phone: 510-486-5345
Location: 050A-4119C
MEBarnum@lbl.gov
Mary Barnum serves as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Lab Director for Operations/COO, providing strategic counsel on institutional initiatives in governance, risk management, and organizational effectiveness. With more than 20 years of experience in public-sector administration, she has led enterprise-wide efforts that strengthen operational performance and cross-organizational collaboration. Prior to joining Berkeley Lab in 2018, she served as Chief of Staff to the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California, Berkeley. A two-time recipient of Berkeley Lab’s Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement, she holds an MBA and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Public Administration focused on mentorship and leadership in complex scientific organizations.
Lori Zscherpel
Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (510) 926-1898 | Fax: (510) 486-6282
Location: 050A – 4119D
LZScherpel@lbl.gov
Chief Financial Officer Lori Zscherpel is responsible for Berkeley Lab’s fiduciary, financial, procurement, and property management systems. As CFO, Zscherpel provides vision, leadership, and direction for Berkeley Lab’s financial functions, leading a team of dedicated finance, procurement, and business service professionals in the Office of the Chief Finance Officer, and serving as a bellwether for financial stewardship and transparency.
She brings decades of leadership experience in budget, finance, and accounting. Most recently, she served for more than a decade in various roles at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, including as budget officer and controller. Prior to her time at SLAC, she spent more than 20 years in finance positions in the high-tech industry at companies such as Sylantro, Solectron, Verifone, and Hewlett Packard. Lori holds an MBA in Finance from the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s degree from Xavier University.
Adam Stone
Chief Information Officer
Phone: 510-486-4650 | Fax: 510-486-4107
Location: 050B-2232D
ADStone@lbl.gov
Adam Stone is the Chief Information Officer at the Lab. With more than 16 years of experience as the Deputy CIO, Adam leads risk-management, cyber security strategy, assurance and compliance, and overall technical strategy in cloud, HPC, collaboration technologies, and data centers. Prior to joining the Lab, Adam spent 8 years as a researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Adam holds a Master’s and a PhD degree in Political Science from UC Berkeley.
Wade Crosson
Chief Human Resources Officer
Phone: (510) 486-6796 x7301 | Fax: (510) 495-2800
Location: 090-1091
WMCrosson@lbl.gov
Wade serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer at Berkeley Lab, leading the HR team dedicated to alignment with the Lab’s mission and operational excellence. Drawing on more than 25 years of cross-sector leadership and HR management experience, Wade oversees a comprehensive suite of HR functions — key among them Strategic Workforce Planning, Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, and Employee and Labor Relations. With Wade at the helm, the HR Leadership Team continuously shapes and delivers strategies that power the Lab’s scientific mission and people success. A dedicated champion of the Lab’s Stewardship Values, Wade is committed to integrating engagement and belonging principles into every facet of the HR division’s body of work and strategic priorities. By fostering an inclusive environment where people, teams, and innovation can flourish, he strives to ensure that the Lab’s people have the environment they need to thrive and achieve excellence in support of groundbreaking science.
Brent Henderson
Director, Facilities Division
Phone: (510) 486-5438
Location: 076-0208
LBHenderson@lbl.gov
Brent Henderson comes to the Lab with over 30 years of progressive experience in facilities and infrastructure management, most recently at the Nuclear Waste Partnership in Carlsbad, New Mexico, which manages and operates the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). He has also spent time at Lawrence Livermore National Lab as the Deputy Associate Director of Facilities and Infrastructure, and twenty years at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, where he served as the Plant Maintenance Department Manager. Brent is a veteran of the US Navy.
David von Damm
Director, Security and Emergency Services (SES)
Phone: 510-345-7055
Location: 050A-2140B
DvonDamm@lbl.gov
David is responsible for the strategy and governance structure to protect people, assets, and institutional interests. He brings more than 25 years of operational leadership to the Laboratory, most recently as Federal Security Director at the Oakland International Airport, overseeing 480 security officers, managers, and technical staff. Prior to this, he served as the Deputy Federal Security Director in the State of Alaska for the Department of Homeland Security. He is a retired reserve officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he performed missions focused on maritime operations and incident response. In addition to security, his portfolio includes emergency response, business continuity, research security, and institutional risk management. He oversees an 80-person organization spanning senior line managers, technical experts, and contractors, including multi-year contracts for police, fire, and security services valued at $65M.
Skip Dunham
Director, Project and Infrastructure Modernization Division
Phone: 513-907-1332
Location: 076-0000
MDunham@lbl.gov
Skip Dunham is the Division Director for Projects and Infrastructure Modernization (PIM), appointed in December 2024 after serving as interim director. He has been with the Lab for seven years, including four years as PIM Deputy Division Director. Skip has led major initiatives, including environmental cleanup in the Old Town and Bayview areas and the creation of a subcontractor safety council to strengthen field safety. He also serves as project executive for the Lab’s new multi-use facility, replacing the former cafeteria. He oversees a portfolio of approximately $1 billion in construction projects through 2030, including infrastructure upgrades and key projects such as BioEPIC, Strawberry Gate improvements, and utility upgrades supporting NERSC and the Advanced Light Source.
Maria Nappi
Director, Environment, Health & Safety Division
Phone: 510-679-0698 | Fax: 510-486-6550
Location: 026-0103
MGNappi@lbl.gov
Maria Nappi leads the EHS division, which includes Radiation Protection, Health Services, Occupational Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Services, and Industrial Hygiene. Maria joined the Lab after 4 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), bringing more than 30 years of progressive responsibility and experience in operational Health Physics, radiation protection, licensing, emergency preparedness, decommissioning, and waste transportation. Prior to her work with LANL, she led Health Physics Operations at the Dominion Millstone Power Station in Waterford, CT, where she achieved Six Sigma Black Belt certification in facilitation and change management. Ms. Nappi holds a Bachelor of Science in Radiological Health Physics from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
Stan Tuholski
Director, Strategic Infrastructure Office
Phone: 510-495-2606
Location: 050-4036G
SJTuholski@lbl.gov
Stanislaus Tuholski, the Lab’s Strategic Infrastructure Planning Officer, considers himself a lifelong learner. He is always finding ways to broaden his understanding of operations, management, and the needs of the research community. Stan spent nine years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory before coming to Berkeley Lab, where he has held roles as Deputy Division Director for Facilities, Department Head of Design and Construction, and has acted as the Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Projects.
In his current role, Stan is responsible for translating Berkeley Lab’s science mission into infrastructure requirements and creating the accompanying development strategy. Beyond his extensive project execution and planning experience within the Department of Energy, he holds a PhD in Projects and Engineering from UC Berkeley and lectures in the Spring semester on campus.
Roberta Leftwich-Vann
Institutional Contract Assurance Officer
Phone: 510-926-9408
Location: 90-1050F
RLeftwichVann@lbl.gov
Roberta Leftwich-Vann joined LBNL in 2018 and served as the ALS-U Project Manager for several years before moving into the role of Institutional Contractor Assurance Officer. Previously, Robbie served as the program director of the NASA Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Science and Mission Operations. Her other experience includes eight years at the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting firm, where she led their aviation practice and was the program manager for the Next Generation Air Transportation System Engineering Program, as well as 17 years with the Federal Aviation Administration, where she was the director of the FAA’s Safety Management System and also an air traffic controller. Robbie has a Master of Public Administration and an M.S. in Engineering Management, and is one of fewer than 2,500 professionals worldwide to hold a Program Management Professional (PgMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI).
John Chernowski
Senior Manager of Parking and Transportation Demand
Phone: 510-486-7457
Location: 050A-1127A
JGChernowski@lbl.gov
John has been at the Lab for 22 years in several managerial roles in EH&S, Facilities, and Contract and Quality Assurance. In January 2019, John assumed the responsibilities of interim transportation manager, overseeing the complexities and challenges of the Laboratory’s parking and transportation services. Since that time, John has successfully partnered with the Laboratory community and external stakeholders to develop and roll out creative solutions and pilots to help address our evolving transportation challenges at LBNL.
