It’s been 10 years since the US Department of Energy first established a BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and researcher Gerald “Jerry” Tuskan has used that time and the lab’s and center’s resources and tools
During the workday, Anthony Walker spends considerable time designing models to advance our understanding of Earth’s biological systems. In the evenings and on weekends, he takes a more hands-on approach to the natural world, whether working in his garden or out kayaking on...
Finding new energy uses for underrated materials is a recurring theme across Amit Naskar’s research portfolio. Since joining Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2006, he has studied low-cost polymers as carbon fiber precursors, turning lignin−a byproduct of biofuel production−into renewable thermoplastics and creating carbon battery electrodes from recycled tires.
At the heart of Hector Santos-Villalobos’ work is the need to get a better look at the unknown, whether it is the structure of an underground geothermal reservoir, meter-thick concrete surrounding a nuclear reactor, or the fine details of the human eye. It may seem appropriate, then,...
Growing up in South Carolina, Ryan McManamay enjoyed a nature-rich upbringing. Both of his parents are retired teachers from the public school system and instilled in him early an appreciation for immersive learning as well as a love of the outdoors. His father, a biology teacher,...
No two scientists have the same story about how they ended up in their field. Some people seem to have been born scientists; others develop their love for it as budding minds full of curiosity. Then there are those who don’t discover science until later in life, but when they do, the...
Claus Daniel was initially attracted to the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory by its reputation as a world leader in materials research. What has kept him at the lab is the opportunity to work with experts across many disciplines using the latest tools to convey ba...
Xin Sun spent her early career helping define a new scientific field, and now she plans to use her technical and managerial experience to expand the capabilities of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) Energy and Transportation Science Division (ETSD) as she steps in as division director. Xin t...
While serving in Kandahar, Afghanistan, U.S. Navy construction mechanic Matthew Sallas may not have imagined where his experience would take him next. But researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory certainly had the future in mind as they were creating programs to train men and wome...
Colleen Iversen’s quest to understand the world below ground has taken her to remarkably diverse ecosystems above ground.
The ecosystem ecologist came to the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2003 as a graduate student working on a large-scale carbon dioxide-e...