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Sometimes solutions to the biggest problems can be found in the smallest details. The work of biochemist Alex Johs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory bears this out, as he focuses on understanding protein structures and molecular interactions to resolve complex global problems like the spread of mercury pollution in waterways and the food supply.

An organic chemist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Santa Jansone-Popova focuses on the fundamental challenges of chemical separations that translate to world-changing solutions for clean water and sustainable energy.

With operating licenses for nearly all nuclear power plants set to expire in the 2030s and 40s—a pending loss that would affect a fifth of the country’s electricity supply—U.S. utilities will need to find a way to respond to what has been called the “nuclear cliff.”

Galigekere is principal investigator for the breakthrough work in fast, wireless charging of electric vehicles being performed at the National Transportation Research Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Amber McBride is using her expertise in nanotechnology, drug delivery, and disease models to research fundamental challenges in human health in the ORNL Biosciences Division. 

While learning the ins and outs of utility operations as a part-time dispatcher during college, Ben Ollis coped with issues from storm-damaged power lines to transformer faults caused by snakes crawling into substation equipment

Sachin Nimbalkar may have grown up in a small town in the shadows of India’s Sahyadri Mountains dreaming of outer space, but it’s the science of conserving energy in inner space where the engineer has made his mark.

When Scott Smith looks at a machine tool, he thinks not about what the powerful equipment used to shape metal can do – he’s imagining what it could do with the right added parts and strategies. As ORNL’s leader for a newly formed group, Machining and Machine Tool Research, Smith will have the opportunity to do just that.

First, she wanted to be a postal worker just like her grandfather. Then, she wanted to be a teacher just like her mother. But ultimately, Candice Halbert chose a path all her own and now she is inspiring the next generation to be scientists—just like her.

Bruce Moyer’s career as a trailblazing chemist began with a Gilbert chemistry set, the perfect Christmas gift for an inquisitive kid growing up in 1960s Pennsylvania. Moyer squirreled away the test tubes and racks of chemicals in his bedroom to conduct unsupervised experiments on solubility, corrosion, and other subjects included in Gilbert’s captivating manual.