Congratulations to Laura Lammers and Trevor Keenan, two assistant professors in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) and faculty scientists at Berkeley Lab, for receiving awards from the Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Research Program.
The prestigious program, which is now in its 11th year, bolsters the scientific community by providing financial support to outstanding early career scientists, in recognition that many researchers complete the most formative research during this period.
Lammers, a faculty scientist in the Energy Geosciences Division at Berkeley Lab, researches the physio-chemical processes between mineral surfaces and complex aqueous fluids that dictate natural geochemical processes. Her research has applications in crystallization, contaminant sequestration, selective element recovery, and the advancement of water and energy technologies. Lammers’ project examines the impacts of chemical impurities on mineral formation, with potential to improve our reconstruction of past climate through mineral paleoproxies, and to develop crystallization technologies that recover valuable elements from waste streams.
Keenan, a faculty scientist in the Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab, researches how extreme drought, heat, and wildfire impact coastal water relations in the western United States. His project integrates machine learning technologies, Earth System Models, and sensor networks, to improve our understanding of the relationship between coastal ecosystem function and water resources.
Read more about the research projects in a recent Berkeley Lab press release and on the DOE Early Career Research Program website.