News Release

Three PNNL staff elected to membership in state academy

New members to be inducted into Washington State Academy of Sciences in September

Grant and Award Announcement

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Don Baer, DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

image: PNNL Laboratory Fellow Don Baer is the lead scientist for energy materials and processes at EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE user facility located at PNNL. view more 

Credit: PNNL

RICHLAND, Wash. – Three scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have been selected to join the Washington State Academy of Sciences.

Don Baer, Alain Bonneville, and Jud Virden will join other scientists and engineers from across the state being recognized for outstanding scientific achievement and leadership. Academy members provide expert scientific and engineering analysis to inform public policy-making, and work to increase the role and visibility of science in Washington state.

The academy was created in 2005 and consists of more than 220 members from diverse academic disciplines and industries, including aerospace, agriculture, computer, science, energy, engineering, ecology and transportation. PNNL now has 11 current staff members in the academy, including the three new inductees. Additionally, current academy president Subhash Singhal is a retired PNNL engineer who now serves as an independent consultant to the laboratory.

The new members will be honored at the academy's annual meeting in Seattle in September.

Don Baer

Baer is a PNNL Laboratory Fellow and the lead scientist for energy materials and processes at EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE user facility located at PNNL. He was recognized for advancements in understanding how physical and chemical processes at the surface of a material or nanoparticle influence the behavior of the material or its environment, enabling removal of contamination from water, for example. In addition to research, he also helped develop the design and operation of EMSL.

Alain Bonneville

Bonneville is also a PNNL Laboratory Fellow and led PNNL's previous research initiative on carbon sequestration, and currently serves as the scientific advisor on subsurface sciences for DOE's "FutureGen 2.0" project on carbon capture and storage. He was recognized for his achievements in geological sciences, including geodynamics of the South Pacific and development of new technologies for minimizing carbon dioxide emissions.

Jud Virden

Virden is the associate laboratory director for energy and environmental research at PNNL, leading efforts focused on increasing the nation's energy capacity and reducing dependence on imported oil. He was recognized for his contributions toward solving clean energy and environmental challenges as well as for his leadership in developing industry and government research and development partnerships that have moved technologies into the marketplace.

EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, is a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Science. Located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., EMSL offers an open, collaborative environment for scientific discovery to researchers around the world. Its integrated computational and experimental resources enable researchers to realize important scientific insights and create new technologies. Follow EMSL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,300 staff and has an annual budget of about $950 million. It is managed by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. As the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter.

###


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.