Candice Townsend, Chief of Information Resources and Services, Acting NIH Library Director
Candice Townsend is an exhilarant member of the ORS family. She currently balances the tasks of serving as the Chief of the Information Resources and Services branch at the NIH Library in addition to holding the role of Acting Director. After working in library services for 15 years, she joined the NIH in December of 2020, with a range of accolades and experiences, to include hosting and facilitating an international conference for the Library of Congress.
Candice is originally from Richmond, Virginia. She attended Trinity College for her undergraduate studies and would continue her graduate education at The Catholic University of America. One of her favorite projects has been the At-Home Antigen Testing Pilot Program. With this role, the NIH Library operated as a component for the COVID-19 test distribution sites. This new assignment created a space where Candice was able to collaborate with and meet many NIH employees. She really enjoys meeting new people and stepping into new opportunities.
Also, as a lover of animals, Candice believes she would have become a veterinarian had she chosen a different career path. When asked about what motivates her, she states, “Working at the NIH Library provides a sense of being connected and contributing to something bigger than myself." In her free time, Candice loves to stimulate her mind by reading. If there's ever a time you need to be greeted by a smile, make sure to pay her a visit at the NIH Library.
John Daffron, Captain, The Department of Fire and Rescue Services
John Daffron serves as a Captain and a team lead for The Department of Fire and Rescue Services. His primary role is maintaining the apparatus on emergency incidents and calls on campus. He joined the ORS family after working as a firefighter for the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. John discovered the NIH and ORS through his wife who worked for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Building 35.
John's favorite project has been helping with development of curriculums and training plans for the career development of other firefighters at NIH. This role puts him in a position to serve as a mentor amongst his peers. Seeing those he has mentored receive promotions into higher positions within his department has been one of the proudest moments in John's career. He's been able to see technicians promoted to Master Firefighters as well as Master Firefighters becoming promoted to Captains. “Those are my proudest moments, seeing my coworkers shine."
If John wasn't a firefighter, he believes he would have joined the military or become a police officer. He really enjoys working in uniformed services and loves being a resource to others. John's wife and two children motivate him each day, along with his desire to be the best officer he can be. Once cool tidbit about John, he is a fourth-generation member of the Greenbelt Volunteer Fire Department. His great grandfather initially helped to pioneer the early Greenbelt Volunteer Rescue Squad that would eventually become the Greenbelt Volunteer Fire Department. This is also where John met his wife. In his free time, John enjoys the outdoors, fishing, kayaking, playing with his dog, and playing with his children.
Susan Borst, Child and Family Specialist, Division of Amenities and Transportation Services
Susan Borst serves as a Child and Family Specialist with the Division of Amenities and Transportation Services within the Office of Research Services. She is part of a team that provides amenities important to the NIH community, like transportation, parking permits, food services, child-related services, childcare subsidy and waitlist, and other amenities that benefit NIH employees across the county. Susan learned about the NIH through a professional organization which sparked her interest, and she joined the team in October of 2021.
Her favorite project has been working with the NIH Childcare Board, including the recruitment of new voting members across all the ICs. “It's a very dynamic group of people who have great minds and wonderful hearts for NIH childcare and the board visions for quality care programs to meet the needs of NIH employees". Susan is also proud of child care directors and teams who led center operations during the pandemic, supporting families, and especially providing quality-care for the unvaccinated children's population from birth to age 5 years old.
Her proudest moments are when Susan uses her skillset to help inform and resource others. She received her Bachelor's in Special Education K-8 and Elementary Education K-6 from the University of Maryland, College Park and completed most of her master's work from Johns Hopkins and Trinity College. Throughout her career as an educator, Susan has had the pleasure of working with many families in different roles, among them, teaching children, leading programming for preschoolers, directing community programs, coordinating parent education classes, and building resources for families and children through the NIH. “The sense of accomplishment by empowering others to use resources and develop support systems is exciting! The past few years has been a very stressful time for parents during COVID and changing work dynamics , and to be a part of providing services to those families is huge!"
Susan believes she would have been a food / travel critic had she chosen a different career path. She loves traveling and visiting new places, along with boating and going to the beach with her adult children. Susan is a native Washingtonian and is energized by meeting interesting people and learning new things.
