I Am ORS Spring 2023

​​​​​Raymond Hunter


Mr. Ray Hunter leads a team of four Customer Service representatives for the Division of Mail Management Services (DMMS) located at the NIH mail handling facility in Gaithersburg, MD. His team is responsible for managing approximately 1300 mail stop codes (MSC) that receive mail daily. The MSC listing requires constant updates with new additions and deletions as customers change across NIH organizations. Ray is also responsible for providing wide ranging quality control services for a mail handling contract that receives, sorts and delivers mail to our customers at multiple locations.     

The Customer Service team also assists customers with acquiring new keys for their mailboxes, ordering new mailboxes to replace old or broken boxes, establishes temporary mail holds and provides the detailed information necessary for customers to best use services DMMS provides.

As more NIH employees are returning to the workplace or establishing telework schedules on a regular basis, there have been many changes to their mail delivery requirements. The Customer Service team has been very busy providing the assistance our customers need to make their transition a bit smoother. As a result of Ray's leadership and his team's efforts, customers are enjoying a smoother transition back to the workplace allowing them to focus more on their core duties which benefits NIH. He enjoys participating in the company events and gatherings. Raymond Hunter is a Maryland native and also would have chosen the military as a career option if he didn't work in ORS. 


 



Jennifer Nickisch

Jennifer Nickisch is a K9 officer with the Division of Police (DP) at the Rocky Mountain Labs location in Montana. In her role she works in many realms including searches, ensuring areas are clear and protected from explosives, gases and unauthorized items. In addition, she works with the K-9 units. She currently is working with her second bomb K9 "Jinx." The most rewarding aspect of her job is when she and her team collaborate with local law enforcement and they're able to successfully find items that are hazardous. Jinx was discovered in an animal shelter near the Rocky Mountain Labs campus. Jennifer decided that she wanted to train Jinx to become a part of law enforcement. Two years later Jinx is now helping to patrol the campus. 

She really enjoys working with animals and believes that if she didn't work in law enforcement she'd still be working with dogs, most likely something in nose detection and dog training. When training their dogs, the K9s are given a library of 18-20 odors to identify. This library consists of content used in bombs, weapons and drugs. The dogs are able to point out the odor but can't specifically identify individual items. This is where the collaborative relationship between the NIH Division of Police and local law enforcement agencies like the bomb squad kick in to determine what it is that has been discovered.  

She enjoys the camaraderie at the Rocky Mountain Labs location amongst the staff and teams. She enjoys gardening and farming with livestock and spending additional time with her family. She's originally from South Dakota.


 


Karen Cook


​​Karen Cook is the Chief of the Division of Quality Management and Policy (DQMP). In her role, she oversees a lot of compliance and policy work for the NIH. She originally moved to the Washington DC metropolitan area after earning her degree in graphic design. She eventually joined the Medical Arts Department and has since served in several roles at the NIH. One of her favorite projects has been spearheading the ORS Mentoring Program. This program was initially piloted in 2019 but was paused because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She's now on the team helping to relaunch the program.

What she loves most about ORS is being able to work in various specialty areas. Her role places her in a position where she works with just about every division in ORS. In additional she works in many committees including the team for the last few ORS Town Halls.  

Though she is soon retiring from ORS, her work and community impact isn't stopping. She's currently earning her master's degree in Clinical Social Work and plans to join the field providing supportive services to those in the community. She really believes in contributing to work that makes a positive impact on those around her.  

She enjoys spending time with her daughters, walking her dogs, and being outdoors. She's originally from Durham, North Carolina.