New Research Fellows Named to EMSL
New 2012 research fellows named to EMSL
The Department of Energy’s EMSL has selected well-known biology and materials physics researchers as Wiley Research Fellows in recognition of their strong contributions to the user facility. The program recognizes scientists who make significant contributions to EMSL outside of their individual research efforts. As Fellows, these scientists actively participate in developing plans and strategies to guide EMSL’s instrument and capability investments, science themes and user activities. They also are consultants for EMSL users and advocates for the user program.
“These new fellows each have shown a strong commitment to the scientific success of EMSL,” said Don Baer, EMSL interim chief science officer. “Their contributions have already and will further strengthen EMSL’s capabilities and therefore the science done by our users.”
The five scientists selected are: Scott Baker of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Nigel Browning of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Matthias Hess of Washington State University; Allan Konopka of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; and Markus B. Raschke of the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Scott Baker
Baker is a cell and molecular biologist at PNNL and has used EMSL capabilities to identify new research opportunities in biology. He is primarily involved in research using genetic, genomic and proteomic strategies to understand important problems in fungal biology. As interim EMSL science lead for biology, Baker provides input and participation in the EMSL Intramural Project selection and represents biology for the EMSL Science Theme calls and research campaigns.
Nigel Browning
Browning, a Laboratory Fellow at PNNL and world-renowned in materials physics, focuses his research on the development of new methods in electron microscopy of materials and biological structures. Browning is specifically recognized for his current and planned contributions to the development and deployment of new microscopy capabilities in EMSL with the Dynamic Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and liquid-HE cryo-TEM. In addition to his skilled research, he is also a strong mentor to junior EMSL microscopy staff, mentoring them toward the development of specific activities in which they can develop their own expertise.
Matthias Hess
Hess is an assistant professor at Washington State University, Tri-Cities and holds a joint appointment as a staff scientist with PNNL. He enjoys the cutting-edge research, particularly in systems biology. Hess’s contributions to the development of new techniques will provide new insights into microbial systems at the system and single-cell level. In addition to his major research developments, Hess is devoted to training next-generation scientists, graduate and undergraduate students, and is a managing editor for the System Microbiology journal.
Allan Konopka
Konopka is a microbial ecologist who serves as the director of Microbiology at PNNL. He had spent 30 years as a professor of biological sciences at Purdue University, where he conducted research on diverse microbial habitats that include aquatic, surface and subsurface soils, and the ecology of both photoautotrophic and chemoheterophic microorganisms. At PNNL, Konopka is developing technologies to “see the world that microbes see” through his leadership of PNNL’s Microbial Communities Initiative. Several areas of this initiative involve participation by EMSL staff and capabilities. His current research investigates the microbial ecology and biogeochemistry in Hanford subsurface sediments, and the systems biology of cyanobacteria to develop them as platforms for biofuels production. He is collaborating with several world-renowned scientists in areas involving biogeochemistry and carbon sequestration.
Markus B. Raschke
Raschke is an associate professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His research is in experimental condensed matter and chemical physics, in particular nanoscale nonlinear and ultrafast optics to image and control molecular and correlated matter. He has developed an advanced scattering scanning near-field optical microscope, the s-SNOM that is now located in EMSL. He is contributing to implementation of the technique for critical research for EMSL users, and is mentoring students and postdocs in applications and further development of new imaging modalities using s-SNOM.
The Fellows program is named after William R. Wiley, the former director of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who first conceived the idea of a DOE Office of Science molecular sciences user facility and whose advocacy led to its creation. More information is available at http://www.emsl.pnl.gov/news/awards/research_fellows.jsp.
Released: March 23, 2012
