Two early career researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been included on the “Periodic Table of Younger Chemists” following an international competition conducted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Younger Chemists Network (IYCN).
ORNL nuclear engineer Clarice Phelps, of the Isotope & Fuel Cycle Technology Division, was selected to represent the element einsteinium. Nathan Brewer, a postdoctoral researcher in ORNL’s Physics Division, represents tennessine.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of IUPAC and the International Year of the Periodic Table, IUPAC and IYCN sponsored an international competition for young scientists, selecting 118 individuals who "embody the mission and core values of IUPAC" to represent each element.
Phelps was cited "for her outstanding commitment to research and public engagement, as well as being an important advocate for diversity. She is the first African American woman to be involved with the discovery of an element, tennessine."
ORNL and Vanderbilt University nominated Brewer for his contributions to the discovery of tennessine and for his work with the even heavier element 118, oganesson, the subject of his 2018 paper published in the journal Physical Review C. Brewer spoke about this work in a video for ORNL.
ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. DOE’s Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit https://energy.gov/science. – By Abby Bower
