Hubbard named deputy for science, technology at ORNL

Susan Hubbard, an acclaimed scientific leader and researcher, has been named deputy for science and technology at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her appointment will be effective March 1.

“Dr. Hubbard brings skilled and passionate leadership that will enable world-leading impact across our portfolio,” ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said in a press release. “She is a true champion of the DOE mission, the national laboratory system, and our responsibility to leverage powerful user facilities and multidisciplinary teams in the national interest.”

Hubbard joins ORNL from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she most recently served as associate laboratory director of Berkeley Lab’s Earth and Environmental Sciences Area, leading efforts to find solutions to sustainably meet the water, energy, critical mineral, environmental quality, and food needs of a growing population, the press release said. In addition to her current role, she is a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab and a full professor adjunct in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California at Berkeley.

“It is a profound honor and privilege to be named as the deputy for science and technology at ORNL,” Hubbard said. “ORNL has a stunning breadth, depth, and history of transformational fundamental science discoveries, technological advances, and innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges facing our nation. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help shape the lab’s future and its contributions to the DOE mission.”

As deputy for science and technology, Hubbard’s responsibilities will include ORNL’s diverse research portfolio, including computing and computational sciences, materials science, environmental and biological research, energy science and technology, isotope research and development, fission and fusion energy, neutron sciences, and national security sciences, the press release said.

Hubbard began her national laboratory tenure as an earth scientist and pioneered the discipline of hydrogeophysics, publishing more than 150 papers and editing the first book on the topic, the press release said. Her research focuses on advancing the use of geophysical methods for shallow subsurface characterization and monitoring and the use of integrated datasets to investigate environmental problems.

In recent years, she has galvanized and led new programs particularly aimed at the recruitment, retention, and development of diverse early career scientists, including a successful graduate internship program with California State University, East Bay.

Hubbard is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Geophysical Union, and the Geological Society of America. She has received numerous honors, including the Society of Exploration Geophysicists Frank Frischknecht Leadership Award; the Society of Exploration Geophysicists Harold Mooney Award; the American Institute of Hydrology Robert G. Wetzel Award; and the Geological Society of America Birdsall Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer Award, the press release said.

She received her doctorate in civil and environmental engineering with a hydrogeology focus from the University of California, Berkeley; a master’s in geophysics from Virginia Tech; and a bachelor’s in geology from University of California, Santa Barbara.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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