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Environmental Sciences Division Director Eric Pierce presented the organization’s 2023 Distinguished Achievement awards at a December 7 all-hands meeting. From left: Megan Johnson, Michael Jones, Maria Colberg, Rachel Pilla, Eric Pierce, Rocio Uria-Martinez, Gbadebo Oladosu and Paul Leiby. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL Environmental Sciences Division Director Eric Pierce presented the division’s 2023 Distinguished Achievement Awards at the organization’s December all-hands meeting.

Debjani Pal’s photo “Three-Dimensional Breast Cancer Spheroids” won the Director’s Choice Award in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Art of Science photo competition. It will be displayed at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Credit: Debjani Pal/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
“Three-Dimensional Breast Cancer Spheroids” submitted by radiotherapeutics researcher Debjani Pal is stunning. Brilliant blue dots pop from an electric sphere threaded with bright colors: greens, aqua, hot pink and red.
Christian Salvador is studying natural and manmade aerosols at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to improve our understanding of how atmospheric pollutants affect ecosystems and the Earth’s climate. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

While completing his undergraduate studies in the Philippines, atmospheric chemist Christian Salvador caught a glimpse of the horizon. What he saw concerned him: a thin, black line hovering above the city.

Bob Bolton has spent much of his career studying environmental change in Alaska. He recently moved to East Tennessee to join the ORNL-led NGEE Arctic project as deputy for operations. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Bob Bolton may have moved to a southerly latitude at ORNL, but he is still stewarding scientific exploration in the Arctic, along with a project that helps amplify the voices of Alaskans who reside in a landscape on the front lines of climate change.

Yaoping Wang. Credit: Yaoping Wang

Yaoping Wang, postdoctoral research associate at ORNL, has received an Early Career Award from the Asian Ecology Section, or AES, of the Ecological Society of America.

Madhavi Martin portrait image

Madhavi Martin brings a physicist’s tools and perspective to biological and environmental research at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, supporting advances in bioenergy, soil carbon storage and environmental monitoring, and even helping solve a murder mystery.

Rose Montgomery

Rose Montgomery, a distinguished researcher and leader of the Used Fuel and Nuclear Material Disposition group at ORNL, has been selected to participate in the U.S. WIN Nuclear Executives of Tomorrow, or NEXT, class of 2023 to 2024.

Mirko Musa was always fascinated by the power of rivers, specifically how these mighty waterways sculpt landscapes. Now, as a water power researcher, he’s finding ways to harness that power and protect rivers at the same time. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Mirko Musa spent his childhood zigzagging his bike along the Po River. The Po, Italy’s longest river, cuts through a lush valley of grain and vegetable fields, which look like a green and gold ocean spreading out from the river’s banks. 

Leigh R. Martin, a senior scientist and leader of the Fuel Cycle Chemical Technology group at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society, or ACS, for 2023.

Leigh R. Martin, a senior scientist and leader of the Fuel Cycle Chemical Technology group at ORNL, has been named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society for 2023.

ORNL’s Jack Cahill, Eugene Dumitrescu, Dan Lu, Takaaki Koyanagi and Matthew Brahlek have been selected to receive Department of Energy Early Career Research awards. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy.

Since its inception in 2010, the program bolsters national scientific discovery by supporting early career researchers in fields pertaining to the Office of Science.