Women @ Energy: Donna Ly Baek

Dr. Donna Ly Baek is a chemist in the Chemical and Radiation Detection department within the Energy and Environment Science and Technology directorate at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). She specializes in non-aqueous electrochemistry, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, and metal complexation. She earned her doctorate in chemistry from University of Idaho in 2014. Afterwards, she worked as a postdoc at INL and was then hired on as a chemist. She holds a bachelor’s from University of Idaho and an associate’s degree from College of Southern Idaho.

I always knew I was going to be a scientist or engineer, but it was my general chemistry teacher who lit a fire inside of me. As a child I was interested in how things worked. When I was in high school, I excelled in math and science. I took the basic requirements such as biology and precalculus, but went a step further and enrolled in special topic science classes that were offered like astronomy and genetics. It wasn’t until I was exposed to chemistry lab in college that I decided to pursue chemistry. That is where I applied what I learned from the classroom and put the pieces together. 

The best part of my job is being able to learn something new every day. There’s never one way to solve a problem. Bouncing ideas around and learning to look at a problem with a different perspective is necessary to develop innovative solutions. Being able to collaborate with the brightest minds in science and engineering makes problem solving much more interesting. In addition, one of my top goals is to be a great mentor and help our students and interns find their own paths. It’s important to work with students and build the future pipeline.

Increasing STEM exposure at an early age and continuing through high school to develop problem solving skills. Providing hands-on opportunities at school for students to apply their knowledge. Providing mentorship to help mitigate/manage imposter syndrome and help encourage and guide students to opportunities.   

Take the time to understand the subject. Don’t just memorize the material. It will pay off in the end. Connect with people in the field and look for internships. This will help you decide what you like and don’t like about the field.

I enjoy spending time with my husband and two sons and hiking and exploring Idaho and the surrounding area.

Learn more about our programs & resources for women and girls in STEM at http://www.energy.gov/women