Ms Natalie Bonilla, Deputy Head of Division for Education Programmes and Head of the NEST Secretariat

Division of Nuclear Science and Education

Natalie Bonilla is the Deputy Head of Division for Education Programmes at the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). Within the Division of Nuclear Science and Education, Ms Bonilla manages key education and training programmes that focus on human capacity building, namely flagship programmes such as the Global Forum on Nuclear Education, Science, Technology and Policy and the Nuclear Education, Skills and Technology Framework. Ms Bonilla has held other positions within the NEA, including Deputy Head for the Office of Policy and Co-ordination and Deputy Head for Human Aspects of Nuclear Safety. Her responsibilities have included overseeing work on human and organisational factors, safety culture, stakeholder engagement, public communications, gender balance initiatives, and enhancing engagement with NEA member countries and strategic partners.

Before joining the NEA, Ms Bonilla worked for ten years at the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna, Austria, where she supported the build-up of the Emirates' Barakah nuclear power programme. Her areas of work covered nuclear safety, nuclear security, non-proliferation, human capacity building, and other areas under technical co-operation. She has also worked for the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations Offices in Vienna, Austria, and has held managerial positions in Guatemala and Tanzania, with agencies focused on rural development, education, and the provision of renewable energy services to remote communities.

Ms Emmy Wilcock, Nuclear Education, Training and Outreach Coordinator

Division of Nuclear Science and Education

Emmy Wilcock joined the NEA Division of Science and Education in March 2024 as Nuclear Education, Training and Outreach Coordinator. She provides secretariat support to the NEST Framework and to a number of working groups under the Global Forum on Nuclear Education Science Technology and Policy. She also develops communication materials related to NEST and the Global Forum on Nuclear Education.

Prior to this role, she worked at the Department for Business and Trade of the United Kingdom government, facilitating collaboration between the UK nuclear industry and international partners to increase exports and attract inward investment.

Ms Elisa De Siati, Junior Analyst for Nuclear Education, Training, Outreach and Knowledge

Division of Nuclear Science and Education and Division of Nuclear Technologies and Economics

Elisa De Siati first joined the NEA in April 2023 as an intern at the Division of Nuclear Science and Education to support NEA education activities, before returning in April 2024 to take up the role of Junior Analyst for Nuclear Education, Training, Outreach and Knowledge.

Prior to joining the NEA, she focused on energy security through her Master's programme, writing on nuclear energy-climate change nexus in the EU, philosophical debunking of the atomic concept, and the EU’s legal framework for food protection in the aftermath of nuclear power plant accidents. Simultaneously, she has collaborated in various projects in Germany, Kosovo, Belgium and Italy. 

Elisa is an Italian national holding a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the University of Trento, Italy and a Joint Master’s degree in International Security Studies at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and the School of International Studies at the University of Trento. Her research thesis focuses on “Science Diplomacy for the Future of Energy: a policy analysis of security and political implications of nuclear energy and Space-Based-Solar-Power at the EU level.”

Dr Markus Beilmann, responsible for the HYMERES project and Research Reactors project

Division of Nuclear Safety Technology and Regulation

Markus Beilmann has been working since May 2017 in the NEA's Division of Nuclear Safety Technology and Regulation as an administrator to support joint projects. He is responsible for projects addressing different areas of safety research and supports the members during the entire lifespan of each project. In this context, he supports the HYMERES-2 project that co-operates very closely with the NEST initiative. He studied radiochemistry and conducted his doctorate studies at JRC-Karlsruhe in Germany. Before joining the NEA, he worked as a technical expert on reactor safety research at the project management agency of the Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) gGmbH in Germany where he supported domestic and international reactor safety research projects.

Ms Alexia Mercier, responsible for Advanced Robotics for Decommissioning project and BEAST project

Division of Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning

Alexia Mercier joined the NEA Division of Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning (RWMD) in August 2022 as a Nuclear Chemist.

She is currently responsible for the Expert Group on the Application of Robotics and Remote Systems in the Nuclear Back-end (EGRRS) of the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) and the Expert Group on Holistic Process for Decision Making on Decommissioning and Management of Complex Sites (HDCS) of the Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management (CDLM).

She holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from Sorbonne University in Paris.

Before joining the NEA, she conducted research on Molten Salt Corrosion for Generation IV reactors and nuclear forensics. She also took part in a variety of environmental chemistry research projects around the world

Ms Marie-Laure Peyrat, Administrative Assistant

Division of Nuclear Science and Education

Marie-Laure Peyrat is responsible for administrative/technical support for the Nuclear Education, Skills and Technology (NEST) Project. Marie‑Laure previously worked for a time in Cork, Ireland. On her return to France in January 1992, she joined the OECD and nine months later started at the NEA. Since then, Marie Laure has worked withing the radiation protection and waste management division, the nuclear development division, the office of the Director‑General and recently joined the Division of Nuclear Science and Education, in the area of education.

Ms Lorella Pecorale, Administrative Assistant

Division of Nuclear Science and Education

Lorella Pecorale is responsible for administrative/technical support for the Nuclear Education, Skills and Technology (NEST) Project. She joined the OECD in 2008 and worked for the Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD) and the Legal Directorate before coming to the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) in 2010. Before joining the OECD, Lorella worked as an administrative assistant in the French office of the Italian Central Bank in Paris. Before arriving in France, she worked as a French and English teacher at a high school in Italy. She has a Master's degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures from the Università degli Studi Gabriele D’Annunzio in Italy.