Cam Brinkworth serves as UCAR’s Chief Access, Culture, and Opportunity officer. She holds a PhD in astrophysics and a master's in education, and wrote her final thesis on creating more welcoming and inclusive environments in STEM for LGBTQIA students, staff, and faculty.
Cam leads the Office of ACO. Under her leadership, UCAR has grown to be a leader in creating welcoming and supportive workplaces for all employees and a model for other institutions. She is the recipient of multiple NSF grants in the geosciences and regularly provides workplace culture support and professional development for the wider geoscience community. In 2013, Cam was honored with the NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal “for outstanding leadership, dedication and commitment, volunteerism, mentoring and coaching of underrepresented student groups through science education workshops and programs."
Cam is particularly enthusiastic about developing a warm and welcoming workplace for all staff so that they can excel in science and operations. She believes that UCAR has a responsibility to create a supportive environment for our staff, and that improving access, culture, and opportunity for staff are absolutely critical in supporting our scientific mission. Her goal is to ensure that changes to improve our organization for our staff are research-based, carefully planned and socialized, and then woven onto the fabric of our organization so that they outlast any one individual and continue to benefit our current and future workforce.
Cam identifies as queer, and is a single parent by choice to her young son and their three cats, Newt, Nebula, and Amos. She is also a certified foster parent and has a passion for supporting LGBTQ teens in the foster care system. She loves hiking and camping with her son, reading without him, and spends an inordinate amount of time weeding her pollinator garden.