Kristine Grace Manno Cabugao
ORNL is proud of its role in fostering the next generation of scientists and engineers. We bring in talented young researchers, team them with accomplished scientists and engineers, and put them to work at the lab’s one-of-a-kind facilities. The result is research that makes us proud and prepares them for distinguished careers.
We asked some of these young researchers why they chose a career in science, what they are working on at ORNL, and where they would like to go with their careers.
Kristine Grace Manno Cabugao
Graduate student, Environmental Sciences Division
Ph.D. student, Energy Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Bredesen Center)
Hometown: Hercules, California
What are you working on at ORNL?
I study plant and microbial interactions related to phosphorus cycling in tropical forests as part of the Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments Tropics project. Understanding the link between root functional traits, the surrounding microbial community, and soil provides data for ecosystem models about how belowground processes influence the tropical carbon sink.
What would you like to do in your career?
I have always seen science and policy as complementary, and I know that what drew me to the Bredesen Center and the Climate Change Science Institute was their interdisciplinary nature. After my dissertation, I hope to pursue a career that merges science and policy, ideally within international development.
Why did you choose a career in science?
I asked for a microscope when I was a kid—the red one from Toys “R” Us. And the first time I thought about being a scientist was when I isolated DNA in high school. I was fascinated by how the smallest aspects of life could influence what we observe.
