Six PNNL scientists among select group of highly cited authors

Six scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are included in a new analysis of scientists whose work is cited most often by their peers.

The analysis published by Thomson Reuters recognizes scientists who are among the top 1 percent of researchers worldwide when it comes to other researchers citing their work from 2003 through 2013.

A citation is evidence that work is considered important by peers, providing a building block for other scientists to build upon to make discoveries, according to PNNL.

Three scientists — Richard Easter, Steven Ghan and Philip Rasch — were recognized for their climate science work.

All three are developing new ways to understand the effect of clouds and small particles in the atmosphere as the climate changes. The particles can be natural, such as from a volcano or from waves breaking on the ocean, or they can come from processes such as energy production.

The particles form the core of clouds, which hold huge sway in how energy is shunted around the globe. The chemistry and physics involved in understanding the process are formidable, according to PNNL.

The other three scientists — Ji-Guang (Jason) Zhang, Jun Liu, and Yuehe Lin — were recognized for their work on materials science and energy storage, particularly batteries that are smaller, more efficient, less expensive and fundamentally different than current technologies.

Developing better batteries is key not only for common devices like laptops and cellphones, but it also is needed for improved electric cars and to store renewable energy generated from wind, solar and hydropower for later use.

Zhang was recognized in the magazine’s engineering category, while Liu was recognized for his work in both the materials science and chemistry fields. Lin, who works at Washington State University and has a joint appointment at PNNL, was recognized for his research in chemistry.

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Six PNNL scientists among select group of highly cited authors."