News

Here are project updates from regular Lab newsletters.

November ESH Newsletter: Come get your Ames Lab Badge or clip, lanyard, or armband


Visit the Badging Office to get a lanyard, clip, or armband for displaying your badge. We’ll all be wearing our badges in Ames Lab buildings starting in January 2025.


Thanks to the 173 people who have already gotten their Ames Lab Badges! If you’re a contributor, temporary employee, graduate student, undergraduate student, or foreign national employee who has lived in the U.S. for less than 3 years and don’t have an Ames Lab Badge, please stop by the Badging Office in 105 TASF before the end of the year. The process is quick (15 minutes or less) and you can drop by during business hours or make an appointment by emailing badgingoffice@ameslab.gov. 


If you are eligible for a PIV Badge (permanent employees, joint employees, post docs, and foreign nationals who have lived in the U.S. for at least three years), you don’t need an Ames Lab Badge. You can continue using your ISUCard for door access and plan to display it in Ames Lab buildings starting in January 2025. We are working with ISU IT to implement a PIV Badge tracking solution in Workday, and once that is ready, we will reach out to current employees about getting their PIV Badges.

Stay tuned to Lab-wide newsletters, Town Halls, and the Badging Project website for more information and resources.

October Insider: Website updates and reminders for supervisors


We received so many great questions this month that we reorganized our website to help you find information more easily. You can now find details and FAQs about the following topics on their own dedicated pages:


Not sure which one to pick? Learn which type of badge you need.


The Frequently Asked Questions page now has our most asked questions at the top so you can jump right to their answers.

If you are a supervisor, you need to bring your new employee(s) to the Badging Office in 105 TASF on their first day so they can pick up their Ames Lab Badge. Drop by during business hours or schedule an appointment (badgingoffice@ameslab.gov or 515-294-6076) if you prefer. New employees will still need to visit Beardshear Hall to get their ISUCard. Onboarding resources, including the onboarding checklist in ServiceNow and the emails you receive from HR for new employees, are updated to reflect this change.

October ESH Newsletter: Badging Project update: What you can do to get ready, plus new details about where and how to wear your badge

The Badging Project will bring two major changes to the Lab:

Badge Types

What you can do now:


We’ve received great questions at the Badging open forums, and we have answers! The most popular question this month was whether it’s okay to wear a badge attached to a belt loop, and the answer is yes. Check out answers to the other most often asked questions asked on our Frequently Asked Questions page, including where not to wear your badge.


We’ll continue to update the project website at badging.ameslab.gov with the latest information. Keep those questions coming through the form on the homepage - you can submit anonymously if you prefer.

October ESH Newsletter: Visitor procedures updated with opening of Badge Office

Knowing who is in Ames National Laboratory spaces is important to help protect personnel, research, and equipment and allow vetting of personnel. The expectation has always been that if you have a visitor coming to Ames Lab you complete the Visitor Request Form in ServiceNow. If the visitor is a non-U.S. citizen, they will also need to be vetted through the Ames Lab 473 process before arriving on-site.

Now that the Badging Office is open, the visitor policy has been updated. We ask that you bring all visitors to the Badging Office in 105 TASF instead of the Guard Room to check them in, verify their identification, and get them a visitor badge or sticker. Visitors will need to provide either a Real ID or other ID from this list at check-in. The Badging team will be ready because they received your request form in advance.

If you do have last-minute visitors (which is rare but it does happen), you can email or call the Badging team at badgingoffice@ameslab.gov or 515-294-6076, or just go with your visitor to the Badging Office and the Badging team will help you. Check out the visitor process article in ServiceNow for answers to frequently asked questions.

September Insider: Badging open forum on Oct. 7. Stop by 105 TASF for new lanyards and clips!


Thank you to the 87 participants who joined Ames Lab executive leadership and the Badging Project Team for a virtual open forum on September 18, which walked through the new project website and answered questions about everything from the project timeline to badge holders. We continue to update the website with answers to the great questions you asked. View the open forum recording on the Resources page of the website.


Missed the first open forum, or have additional questions? Join us for an in-person open forum in Spedding 301 on Monday, October 7, from 11 a.m. to noon. This link opens the calendar event if you want to copy it to your calendar. The Badging Office will provide updates on questions asked during the first open forum and field new questions. You’re welcome to submit questions in advance anonymously through this form, which you can also find at the bottom of the Badging Project home page.


All of the new clips and branded lanyards are now available in the Badging Office (TASF 105), so stop by if you want one. You are welcome to wear any type of badge attachment you prefer - you don’t have to wear one of the provided options. Based on your feedback, we are also investigating different types of badge holders—including arm bands—and will bring samples to the next open forum.


Questions or feedback? Contact us at badgingoffice@ameslab.gov or visit the Badging Office in TASF 105 anytime. 

September ESH Newsletter: New badging website launches, plus upcoming open forums 

Check out the new website for the Badging Project, which features updated frequently asked questions, a project timeline, and detailed explanations of who gets which types of badges. We will continue to update this site throughout the project. Have ideas for additional information or resources you would like to see? Tell us at badgingoffice@ameslab.gov, or submit an anonymous suggestion through the box at the bottom of the home page.

The Badging Team will host two open forums in the next month to answer questions and collect feedback. We will send Lab-wide calendar invitations soon with more details. We know fall is a particularly busy time! If you have concerns but are unable to make one of the open forums, we are happy to meet with groups at existing department and division meetings or set up a different time to connect. Contact us at badgingoffice@ameslab.gov to schedule a discussion.

August Insider: Lanyard poll results are in

The results are in from the lanyard strap design poll. The winners are options G, C, and F. We’ll order these and have them available for you soon, along with all of the clip options. Thank you to everyone who voted! Questions about the Badging Project? Visit bit.ly/badgingproject.

The winners of the lanyard strap design poll from August 2024, which received 178 responses, along with their percentage of votes:

Lanyard straps are shown with the logo and white lettering reading Ames National Laboratory. This design features a gradient from dark blue to light blue down the strap with angled stripes in white, blue, and red where the strap attaches to the clip. This is design G.
Lanyard straps are shown with white lettering reading Ames National Laboratory over dark blue background. This design features pattern with the Ames Lab letter A logo in red and light blue alternating close to where the straps meet. This is design C.
Lanyard straps are shown with the Ames National Laboratory logo in white text over a light blue background repeating several times down the strap. This is design F.

August ESH Newsletter: New employees get new badges, plus poll coming this week

New employees are now eligible to receive new Ames Lab Badges for identification and door access. If you have a new employee, please make sure they stop by the Badging Office in 105 TASF to pick up their Ames Lab Badge.

Watch your email this Thursday, August 15, for a poll about different lanyard designs and types of badge clips. We’ll use the results of this poll to order lanyards and badge clips based on your preferences.

Questions? Check out the project webpage at bit.ly/badgingproject.

July Insider: Badging Project updates

We’ll continue to update answers to frequently asked questions on the project webpage: bit.ly/badgingproject 

June Insider: New badges coming soon for everyone at Ames Lab

Before the end of the 2024 calendar year, everyone who enters Ames Lab facilities will get a new type of badge for identification and physical access. These badges will replace your ISU Card for Ames Lab door access, and you’ll need to wear them while at the Lab. 

We are making these changes to increase safety and security and protect research and equipment. We will work with you to develop realistic guidelines for wearing badges without disrupting work, including offering different types of lanyards and clips. 

Here are some things you can do in the coming months to get involved:

Our new Badging Office (TASF 105) is open and staffed thanks to direct DOE funding, and we are working on logistical details and the project timeline. We will share more information soon.

March ESH Newsletter: TASF 105 transforming into new badging office

TASF 105 continues to receive updates to turn it into our new badging office. In the future, employees and visitors will head here to receive their badges. Construction is expected to be completed by late spring. We will share more details about the badging project via this newsletter and other regular channels soon. Please direct any questions or concerns to Security and Emergency Services at security@ameslab.gov.