Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — Local services in Livermore

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory remains a world-class institution doing important national security and scientific work. Many teams here are filled with exceptional minds from top research universities, driving real innovation. However, not all hiring and advancement decisions seem rooted in objective performance.

A concerning trend observed internally involves disproportionately strong recommendation letters submitted on behalf of certain UC Davis graduates. These letters — sometimes glowing to a degree that raises eyebrows — appear to try to elevate these candidates to the level of graduates from more research-intensive institutions like UCLA or UCSD. The problem isn’t the attempt to advocate for students; the problem is the overcompensation and bias, which can skew hiring committees’ perceptions.

In practice, some of these UC Davis hires come in with high expectations based on those letters but do not consistently perform at the level implied. While many are competent, a portion struggle with deeper technical challenges or collaborative execution, and rely instead on soft skills and visibility. Meanwhile, candidates from UCLA or UCSD — with rigorous training and strong results — sometimes find themselves overlooked, despite bringing more technical depth and experience.

This kind of academic inflation creates a mismatch between paper credentials and on-the-ground performance. It also fuels internal frustration, particularly for high-performing team members who see favoritism replacing fairness.

For an institution as critical as LLNL, selection and advancement should rest squarely on capability, not on political letters or efforts to “equalize” candidates across universities. The mission is too important to risk performance on perceived...

Have been trying to get a tour here for years whenever I come through town, and finally found a space! FYI: they only do the tours on Tuesday mornings, it's limited to 14 people, and usually booked out months in advance by colleges. I got lucky by going the day after Halloween. The tour itself was great. Visiting the Carbon 14 dating lab, and the NIF were definitely the highlights. Though we didn't see the actual NIF test chamber (blocked off from tour groups now), we did get a lot of insight and fun stories from our two guides, who were both retired workers from the lab. Absolutely worth the visit if you can...

The Hunters Point Biomonitoring Foundation research team was graciously hosted during a tour of the reknown Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry by Dr. Terry Hamilton and tour facilitator Nanette Sorensen. Dr.Raymond Tompkins in the right foreground. Dr. Hamilton entering CAM followed by James Dahlgren MD and Aude Bouagnon, PhD. Photo by Ahimsa...