News & Features

• BioEnergy Science Center reaches 500th publication
• Project with ORNL helps Hardin Valley senior earn Boy Scouts award
• Two ORNL researchers, two joint faculty receive DOE early career awards
• Zero-energy classroom built at Clinton High with UT-Battelle help
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ORNL Review

• Solvable problems
• Moving to Titan
• Behind the data
• Virtual reactor
• Joining forces for biofuels

Martin Keller was appointed to the role of Associate Laboratory Director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), on July 1, 2009.  On November 1, 2010, a new directorate was formed, Energy and Environmental Sciences, and Dr. Keller was asked to lead this newly-established directorate.  As Associate Laboratory Director of the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate, he is responsible for the energy, biological and environmental research programs at ORNL supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institutes of Health.  The directorate includes four research divisions (Biosciences, Environmental Sciences, Energy and Transportation Science, and Measurement Science and Systems Engineering) and several research centers including the DOE BioEnergy Science Center and the Climate Change Science Institute.  From July 2007 until February 2010, Martin also served as the Founding Director of the DOE BioEnergy Science Center.  The mission of the BioEnergy Science Center is to make revolutionary advances in understanding and overcoming the recalcitrance of biomass to conversion into sugars, making it feasible to displace imported petroleum with ethanol and other fuels.  Before being named Associate Laboratory Director at ORNL, Martin served as the Director of the Biosciences Division, ORNL.  He joined ORNL in July 2006.  

Between 1996 and 2006 Martin held a series of research management positions within Diversa Corporation, a publicly-traded biotechnology company in San Diego.  Martin joined Diversa Corporation in June 1994 as a consultant to build and develop the microbiology expertise within Diversa, before joining Diversa Corporation full time in 1996.  Being among the first 20 researchers gave Martin the opportunity to participate from the shaping of a start-up biotechnology company to a publicly-traded company with a staff of approximately 380 people.  As the Director for New Technology Development and High Throughput Screening, Martin was responsible for Small Molecule Discovery and High Throughput Screening (HTS), including microbiology, robotic high throughput screening, high throughput ELISA, HTS whole cell assays, flow cytometry, biopanning, Multiple Displacement Amplification development and ultra high throughput screening development using miniaturized bead technology.  Martin received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Regensburg, Germany.