Angelita Denny is a site lead for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) office of Legacy Management (LM) and she is proud of the work she does in areas where fellow Native Americans have resided, which often were locations of nuclear testing in the past.
LM is responsible for monitoring and maintaining areas that were contaminated by Cold War efforts like the Manhattan Project, and many of the spots are located near or on tribal land, according to a release by DOE.
“When our work so closely affects Native American communities, we have to maintain collaborative relationships and effective lines of communication,” said Denny, who lived as a child on a Navajo reservation. “It’s important to have Native American voices on our side of the conversation, and equally important to ensure those voices are respected.”
For Denny, home is not a place but rather a person that she comes back to in her memory. She remembers her late paternal grandmother as “home,” and considers her a role model. Her grandmother lived on reservation in Navajo Nation and was described as a hard worker, meticulous and efficient.
Her grandmother would get up early to tend to the herd and come back after dark once each sheep was accounted for. Then she would make dinner cooked from scratch in a half an hour, with Denny saying she had it down to a science.
Denny recalled her childhood as a learning experience.
“I spent my early days focused on getting to school, then getting back home so I could play,” Denny said. “I would dig in the dirt, take things apart and put them back together, run out and try to corral the sheep like my grandmother would.”
Denny left the reservation to attend high school and suddenly realized her childhood was actually much different. She said while teenagers often want to blend in, Denny saw this as a chance to learn to live in both worlds.
“I learned how to be adaptable and value the culture I was raised in,” Denny said. “You can’t get lost when you know where you’re from.”
Co-worker Padraic Benson, who is a DOE program analyst, said Denny goes above and beyond as a site manager.
“She not only brings technical expertise but also a real passion for serving people, whether it’s Native American communities, our summer interns or students interested in STEM,” Benson said.
