Jared Stancombe graduated this year with a master’s degree in cybersecurity risk management from Indiana University. With a strong background in government work, Stancombe was excited to work as a Coding it Forward Civic Digital fellow this year. The former Indiana state representative candidate is working with mentors David Olson and Nicole Rohloff in the NIH Office of the Director’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).
“I am helping introduce MITRE ATT&CK Framework,” a framework developed as a foundation to assess cyber security risk and develop specific threat models, Stancombe said. “My main deliverable for this fellowship is a presentation for information system security officers on how to use this framework.”
If anything about his fellowship has surprised Stancombe, it’s the project he was assigned. “I didn’t think I would be working on assessing advanced persistent threats,” Stancombe commented. “But I like to see how the things I’ve learned are put into practice.”
While having the full on-campus fellowship experience would have been ideal, teleworking from Pawnee, Indiana, hasn’t been too challenging for Stancombe—other than the early meeting times Olson likes to have.
“They’re more of morning people than I am,” Stancombe admitted. “But we start the day out great.”
Olson makes regular meeting times a priority. “I want Jared to feel like he’s part of the team,” Olson said. “I’ve turned so many people into early risers because it’s the easiest time to get everyone together.”
Utilizing video technology and regular meetings has helped Stancombe familiarize himself with the team and given him the confidence to engage with everyone.
“I feel comfortable reaching out to people,” Stancombe said. “Everybody knows who I am.”
This connection isn’t just with his work team. “Coding it Forward has done a great job of introducing us fellows and giving us spaces to get to know each other,” Stancombe said.
Given his previous experience working in government, he has also found an opportunity to mentor other fellows. “As one of the older fellows with federal government experience, I’ve been trying to mentor the other fellows,” Stancombe said.
He’s enjoying his project work, but it’s clear that Stancombe and his mentors have developed a strong bond this summer. Stancombe, Olson, and Rohloff all reiterated how important the people on a team are and how much they learn from each other.
“I’ve learned throughout my career to find where there’s good people,” Stancombe said.
Rohloff agreed. “I think the secret for success in any industry begins with the people. If you start there, the rest falls into place.”
The Office of Data Science Strategy at NIH works with institutes, centers, and offices and with Coding it Forward to bring fresh perspectives to tackle computational challenges facing the biomedical research workforce each summer. ODSS will feature fellows and mentors from the 2020 cohort throughout the summer. Meet Jared's mentors, David Olson and Nicole Rohloff.
