The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Legacy Management's (LM) Education, Communication, History, and Outreach (ECHO) supervisor David Von Behren believes in both preservation and perseverance.
Von Behren, who has been ECHO’s supervisor for two months, worked for years beforehand to serve the health and safety of underserved communities, a Jan. 4 DOE press release said.
“I've worked at the intersection of public health and public relations for my entire career, but the backdrop of historical context and site responsibility made for a unique opportunity,” Von Behren said in the release.
Von Behren worked as a communications officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service in Colorado during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the release said. During the time, Von Behren strengthened his relationship with Native American communities to help increase accessibility for those in need.
“The region where I served with the Food and Nutrition Service is home to many Native, urban, and rural communities with hunger challenges – and many of them are located in areas known as food deserts,” Von Behren said in the release. “When the pandemic hit, local food banks were overwhelmed and nationwide supply shortages exacerbated the lack of access to resources.”
Von Behren and the rest of the ECHO team seek to improve communication with community members to further preservation goals, the release said. Efforts include partnering with Native American communities and helping the general public understand the significance of LM’s sites to U.S history.
“LM is small, but mighty,” Von Behren said. “We’re fortunate to have such rich diversity of community involvement efforts.”
