Budhu L Bhaduri

Bio

Dr. Budhendra “Budhu’ Bhaduri is a Corporate Research Fellow and the director of science, programs, and partnerships for national security sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).  In that capacity he provides strategic guidance and leadership to scientific and programmatic endeavors spanning geospatial science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and scalable and high performance computing particularly focusing on defense space and environmental programs. Budhu is responsible for evaluating technological trends, evolving sponsor requirements, and laboratory's technical capability directions for growing ORNL’s programmatic footprint, and mission impact related to space technologies, climate security, and emergency response.  Additionally, he fosters strategic partnerships with leading universities, research institutions, private companies, and charitable organizations to expedite the development and implementation of innovative solutions.

Since joining ORNL in 1998, Dr. Bhaduri’s has spearheaded initiatives covering novel implementation of geospatial science and technology for a wide variety of programs supporting energy, environment, and national security missions across the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security.  During 2018-2024, he led the Geospatial Science and Human Security division and was responsible for managing over 100 staff and an interdisciplinary research portfolio focused on human dynamics, geographic data science, remote sensing, scalable geocomputation, and resilient communications and autonomous systems.  Additionally, between 2014-2019, he founded and led ORNL’s Urban Dynamics Institute, a cross-disciplinary initiative across the laboratory that fostered a data driven understanding of complex urban systems.  Over his career, Dr. Bhaduri’s research has had global impact and has benefited the U.S. federal missions, international organizations, and philanthropic foundations. 

Dr. Bhaduri is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Association of Geographers (AAG), and has served on the Geographical Sciences Committee of the National Academy of Sciences.  He is a founding member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Geospatial Sciences Steering Committee and a recipient of the Department’s Outstanding Mentor Award for his dedicated service for developing future workforce for the nation.  He routinely serves on national and international expert panels and has published extensively in leading scientific journals.  He holds professorial appointments with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and is actively involved with academic institutions for scientific collaborations and student engagement for research in geospatial science. 

Dr. Bhaduri received his Ph.D. in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences from Purdue University.  He has a MS from Kent State University, and a M.Sc. and a B.Sc. in Geology from University of Calcutta, India. 

Awards

2022 Fellow, American Association of Geographers (AAG)

2021 Secretary of Energy Achievement Award, National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory Team

2021 Sustainability Science Award, Ecological Society of America

2020 Distinguished Innovation Award, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

2019 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award, Federal Laboratory Consortium

2018 James R. Anderson Medal of Honor in Applied Geography, American Association of Geographers

2018 Special Achievement in GIS Award, Environmental Systems Research Institute, California

2017 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

2017 Carolyn Merry Mentoring Award, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science

2012 Award for R&D Group Leadership and achievement of international recognition for programmatic scientific impacts, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

2010 Homeland Security Award in the field of Emergency Response, Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and Agusta-Westland North America

2005 Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishments in Community Service, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

2002 Outstanding Mentor Award, Office of Science Undergraduate Research Programs, Department of Energy

Publications