PNNL researchers picked for National Academy of Engineering

Two researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have been elected to membership in the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, which is part of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Ruby Leung and Johannes Lercher are among the 106 new members elected worldwide to the 2017 class. They join emeritus staff member Subhash Singhal, who is a National Academy of Sciences member, as PNNL researchers in the National Academies.

Leung, an atmospheric scientist, was elected to the academy based on her leadership in regional and global computer modeling of the Earth’s climate and water cycles.

Her research has advanced understanding and modeling of the regional and global water cycles, with implications for managing water, agriculture and energy. She has organized key workshops sponsored by environmental agencies, served on panels that define future priorities in climate modeling, and has developed computer climate models that are used globally.

Lercher, a chemist, serves as the director of the Institute for Integrated Catalysis at PNNL.

He was elected based on his catalysis research, which focuses on the details of how catalysts work at the elementary level and using that insight to design and build better catalysts for industrial applications, including cleaner fossil fuels and renewable, biology-based fuels.

This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 6:33 PM with the headline "PNNL researchers picked for National Academy of Engineering."