Jesse Labbé: Innovating biotechnology for energy, security and health
The German-American Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, hosted by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, emphasized the importance of building relationships across national boundaries to tackle the world’s toughest engineering problems.
ORNL, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development were recognized by the Federal Laboratory Consortium, or FLC, for their efforts to develop Tennessee as a national leader in fusion energy.
The Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment, or INCITE, program has announced the 2026 Call for Proposals, inviting researchers to apply for access to some of the world’s most powerful high-performance computing systems.
Gerald Tuskan, director of the Center for Bioenergy Innovation and a Corporate Fellow at ORNL, has been awarded the Marcus Wallenberg Prize, the world’s highest honor in the field of forestry, for his pioneering work in sequencing and analyzing the first tree genome.
Daniel Jacobson, distinguished research scientist in the Biosciences Division at ORNL, has been elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, or AIMBE, for his achievements in computational biology.
Scientists at ORNL have developed a first-ever method of detecting ribonucleic acid, or RNA, inside plant cells using a technique that results in a visible fluorescent signal. The technology can help researchers detect and track changes in RNA and gene expression in real time, providing a powerful tool for the development of hardier bioenergy and food crops and for detection of unwanted plant modifications, pathogens and pests.
A team from ORNL, joined by university students, recently traveled to the Ohio State University Research Reactor to conduct a novel experiment on nuclear thermal rocket fuel coatings — one that could help propel NASA’s astronauts to Mars faster and more efficiently.
Organized by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, six guided nature walks, which are open to the public, will take place at various locations across the Oak Ridge Reservation from April through June.
Troy Carter, director of the Fusion Energy Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, leads efforts to make fusion energy a reality, overseeing key projects like MPEX and fostering public-private collaborations in fusion research.
Five scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory — Ho Nyung Lee, David Graham, Andrew Sutton, Roger Rousseau and Troy Carter — have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS.