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Media Contacts
![The ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolor, shown in green, envelops the roots of a transgenic switchgrass plant. Switchgrass is not known to interact with this type of fungi naturally; the added PtLecRLK1 gene tells the plant to engage the fungus. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-09/fungi_switchgrass_0.png?h=4bcd3c64&itok=6SCoAprD)
An ORNL team has successfully introduced a poplar gene into switchgrass, an important biofuel source, that allows switchgrass to interact with a beneficial fungus, ultimately boosting the grass’ growth and viability in changing environments.
![Environmental scientist John Field uses ecosystem models to analyze sustainable methods for growing crops such as switchgrass. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-09/2021-P07473_2.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=3bMWB4As)
For ORNL environmental scientist and lover of the outdoors John Field, work in ecosystem modeling is a profession with tangible impacts.
![ORNL metabolic engineer Adam Guss develops genetic tools to modify microbes that can perform a range of processes needed to create sustainable biofuels and bioproducts. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-08/2021-P05224.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=_5e3ckBD)
As a metabolic engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Adam Guss modifies microbes to perform the diverse processes needed to make sustainable biofuels and bioproducts.
![ORNL’s Josh Michener, a microbiologist and metabolic engineer, led the discovery of a useful new enzyme that breaks down stubborn bonds in lignin, a polymer found in plants that typically becomes waste during bioconversion. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-06/2019-P05683_0.jpg?h=4c5cadcc&itok=FSVdbEYP)
In a step toward increasing the cost-effectiveness of renewable biofuels and bioproducts, scientists at ORNL discovered a microbial enzyme that degrades tough-to-break bonds in lignin, a waste product of biorefineries.
![At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Carly Hansen combines her passion for research and her commitment to protecting water resources. Hansen’s research covers topics from development opportunities at non-powered dams to hydropower storage capacity. Credit: Genevieve Martin, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-05/2021-P03581_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=VnT7p-ca)
Carly Hansen, a water resources engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is rethinking what’s possible for hydropower in the United States.
![Verónica Melesse Vergara speaks with third and fourth graders at East Side Intermediate School in Brownsville. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-02/EWeek_vergara_0.jpg?h=c44fcfa1&itok=-FdYpHed)
Twenty-seven ORNL researchers Zoomed into 11 middle schools across Tennessee during the annual Engineers Week in February. East Tennessee schools throughout Oak Ridge and Roane, Sevier, Blount and Loudon counties participated, with three West Tennessee schools joining in.
![Distinguished Inventors](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-12/inventors.jpg?h=4631f1c1&itok=xhAGY0kv)
Six scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were named Battelle Distinguished Inventors, in recognition of obtaining 14 or more patents during their careers at the lab.
![Researchers Adam Guss and Melissa Tumen-Velasquez work with microbes to understand how the organisms consume plastics and break them into chemical components that can be used to make higher-value products.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-11/2020-P17629.jpg?h=98541007&itok=54ubVna4)
From soda bottles to car bumpers to piping, electronics, and packaging, plastics have become a ubiquitous part of our lives.
![stacked poplar logs](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-10/poplar_sized.jpg?h=e91a75a9&itok=Oq847ULr)
Popular wisdom holds tall, fast-growing trees are best for biomass, but new research by two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories reveals that is only part of the equation.
![Sergei Kalinin](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/2019-P00126_0.png?h=5969a3b5&itok=66cucDCt)
Five researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been named ORNL Corporate Fellows in recognition of significant career accomplishments and continued leadership in their scientific fields.