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Alyssa Carrell is an ORNL ecologist studying how plant-microbe relationships can build resilience in natural ecosystems vulnerable to climate change. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Alyssa Carrell started her science career studying the tallest inhabitants in the forest, but today is focused on some of its smallest — the microbial organisms that play an outsized role in plant health. 

Peter Thornton, second from right, is director of ORNL’s Climate Change Science Institute. He shares insights on the regional impacts of changing weather patterns during the Second Annual Appalachian Carbon Forum in Lexington, Kentucky. Credit: University of Kentucky’s Center for Applied Energy Research.

ORNL hosted the second annual Appalachian Carbon Forum in Lexington March 7-8, 2024, where ORNL and University of Kentucky’s Center for Applied Energy Research scientists led discussions with representatives from industry, government and academia to discuss ways to transition to clean energy.

Assaf Anyamba Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL’s Assaf Anyamba has spent his career using satellite images to determine where extreme weather may lead to vector-borne disease outbreaks. His work has helped the U.S. government better prepare for outbreaks that happen during periods of extended weather events such as El Niño and La Niña, climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean that can affect weather worldwide. 

ORNL

ORNL took home the top honors in three categories at the second annual DOE Geospatial Science Poster competition, held on National GIS Day. For the second year in a row, DOE awarded ORNL top prize as Best Geospatial Program. Additionally, ORNL geospatial researchers took home first place prizes for their posters in the Best Departmental Element Alignment and Best Cartography categories.

The 2023 Billion-Ton Report identifies feedstocks that could be available to produce biofuels to decarbonize the transportation and industrial sectors while potentially tripling the U.S. bioeconomy. The map indicates a mature market scenario, including emerging resources. Credit: ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

The United States could triple its current bioeconomy by producing more than 1 billion tons per year of plant-based biomass for renewable fuels, while meeting projected demands for food, feed, fiber, conventional forest products and exports, according to the DOE’s latest Billion-Ton Report led by ORNL.

LCDR Rich Harvey, pictured on the left, poses with two colleagues at the 2023 POST Conference. Credit: Rich Harvey

Lieutenant Commander Rich Harvey has spent the last three decades of his career serving his country. Harvey's efforts supporting the Office of Naval Research has earned him the 2023 Junior Scientist Officer of the Year award for coordination and computer modeling support for a project called TALISMAN, his leadership roles and other exemplary service markers. 

A multidirectorate group from ORNL attended AGU23 and came away inspired for the year ahead in geospatial, earth and climate science

ORNL scientists and researchers attended the annual American Geophysical Union meeting and came away inspired for the year ahead in geospatial, earth and climate science. 

Prasanna Balaprakash, who leads ORNL’s AI Initiative, participated in events hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Task Force on American Innovation to discuss the challenges and opportunities posed by AI. Credit: Brian Mosley/Computing Research Association

In summer 2023, ORNL's Prasanna Balaprakash was invited to speak at a roundtable discussion focused on the importance of academic artificial intelligence research and development hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. National Science Foundation.

ORNL intern Jack Orebaugh holds the drone used in his research to help locate human remains. Credit: Lena Shoemaker/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Jack Orebaugh, a forensic anthropology major at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has a big heart for families with missing loved ones. When someone disappears in an area of dense vegetation, search and recovery efforts can be difficult, especially when a missing person’s last location is unknown. Recognizing the agony of not knowing what happened to a family or friend, Orebaugh decided to use his internship at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to find better ways to search for lost and deceased people using cameras and drones. 

2023 Top Science Achievements at SNS & HFIR

The 2023 top science achievements from HFIR and SNS feature a broad range of materials research published in high impact journals such as Nature and Advanced Materials.