{"id":64170,"date":"2021-10-21T13:32:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T20:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=64170"},"modified":"2021-10-21T13:32:13","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T20:32:13","slug":"energy-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/energy-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Ph.D.\u00a0students first in NAU history to receive prestigious DOE awards\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Graduate students\u00a0<\/span>Maria Bolar<\/span><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Megan Foley<\/span><\/b>\u00a0are the first from\u00a0Northern Arizona University\u00a0to receive awards from the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s\u00a0(DOE)\u00a0<\/span>Office of Science Graduate Student Research\u00a0(SCGSR)\u00a0program<\/span><\/a>. Only 65 graduate students from\u00a0throughout\u00a0the country were recognized this year.\u00a0Through world-class training and access to state-of-the-art facilities and resources at DOE national laboratories,\u00a0the program\u00a0prepares graduate students to enter jobs of critical importance to the\u00a0department\u2019s\u00a0mission and secures\u00a0the nation\u2019s\u00a0position at the forefront of discovery and innovation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal of SCGSR is to prepare graduate students for\u00a0STEM\u00a0careers critically important to the Office of Science\u2019s\u00a0mission by providing research opportunities through extended residency at DOE national laboratories. The program provides funding for the students to spend\u00a0three\u00a0to 12 months onsite at a DOE national laboratory conducting graduate thesis research in a priority research area,\u00a0in collaboration\u00a0with a DOE scientist.\u00a0The projects they work on are expected to advance each student\u2019s doctoral thesis while providing access to the expertise, resources and capabilities available at the DOE\u00a0labs.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe DOE Office of Science provides the scientific foundation for solutions to some of our nation\u2019s most complex challenges, and now more than ever we need to invest in a diverse, talented pipeline of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs who can help us build a brighter future,\u201d said Harriet Kung,\u00a0deputy\u00a0director for\u00a0science\u00a0programs in the Office of Science.\u202f\u201cThese outstanding students will help us tackle mission-critical research at our labs as this experience helps them begin a successful and rewarding career.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bolar to study\u00a0fundamental electrochemistry for chemical and materials sciences\u00a0at Oak Ridge National<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n
\"Maria<\/a>
Maria Bolar<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Laboratory<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Working on her\u00a0<\/span>Ph.D.\u00a0in\u00a0applied\u00a0physics and\u00a0materials\u00a0science<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(APMS),\u00a0Bolar\u00a0has been\u00a0performing\u00a0research with\u00a0NAU\u00a0professor\u00a0<\/span>Cindy Browder<\/span><\/b>\u00a0and her lab group\u00a0in the\u00a0<\/span>Department of\u00a0Chemistry and Biochemistry<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0investigating the physical properties of polymer electrolytes for use in energy storage devices such as supercapacitors. \u201cUsing organic chemistry, we have the ability to tune these electrolytes,\u00a0and we have synthesized a variety of different polymer precursors using several different polymerization methods,\u201d Bolar said.\u00a0\u201cAs we modify these molecules, it is important to keep in mind how these changes affect the dynamics of the polymers and the movements of the ions.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bolar\u2019s DOE award of $12,000 will enable her to work with senior staff scientist Gabriel Veith at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)\u202fin Tennessee for four months.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At ORNL,\u00a0she\u00a0will\u00a0use\u00a0quasi-elastic neutron scattering, among other neutron-based techniques, to fully characterize these\u00a0different\u00a0molecular mechanisms.\u00a0NAU\u00a0offers\u00a0access to a range of electron microscopy instruments;\u00a0however,\u00a0Bolar said\u00a0these\u00a0instruments\u00a0fail to distinguish smaller atoms\u00a0that\u00a0comprise\u00a0the majority of electrolytes, which is what her team is\u00a0most\u00a0interested in understanding. The explanations of the polymer dynamics and ion diffusion will help explain the exciting thermal, electrochemical and mechanical trends\u00a0they observe now\u00a0as\u00a0they\u00a0modify the structure of\u00a0the\u00a0polymer electrolytes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am tremendously excited for this amazing opportunity,\u201d Bolar said. \u201cI am not sure what I am looking forward to more\u2014the fast-paced environment of a national lab, or finally having a molecular understanding of the polymers I have been working with for the past several years. I am proud to be\u00a0representing the school that serves as both my alma mater and current graduate institution, as well as the rising Applied Physics and Material Science community within NAU.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Faculty who helped mentor Bolar include<\/span>\u00a0Gabriel\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Monta\u00f1o<\/span><\/b>,\u00a0<\/span>Jennifer Martinez<\/span><\/b>,\u00a0<\/span>Gerrick\u00a0Lindberg<\/span><\/b>,\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Constantin\u00a0Ciocanel<\/span><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Browder, who is the\u00a0principal\u00a0investigator on the project Bolar has worked on.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am very lucky to have such a capable team of professionals that are constantly supporting me and challenging me to be the best growing scientist I can\u00a0be.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Said\u00a0Browder,\u00a0\u201cIt has been a pleasure and an honor to work with Maria in her journey from undergraduate researcher to\u00a0chemistry MS student and now as an APMS Ph.D.\u00a0candidate. My lab has benefitted tremendously from Maria\u2019s skills and leadership over the years. Maria has always been resourceful, but she has gone above and beyond by gaining the ability to use neutron scattering techniques to examine our electrolytes at the atomic level. Maria\u2019s award project will benefit the group for years to come, and I couldn\u2019t be prouder\u00a0of her accomplishment.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foley to study\u00a0environmental microbiology\u00a0at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Megan<\/a>
Megan Foley<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Working on her\u00a0<\/span>Ph.D.\u00a0in Biological Sciences<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0Foley has been\u00a0studying\u00a0with Regents\u2019 professor\u00a0<\/span>Bruce\u00a0Hungate<\/span><\/b>\u00a0in the\u00a0<\/span>Center for Ecosystem Science and Society<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0exploring research questions central to her dissertation, such as\u00a0“How does life and death in the soil microbiome drive elemental transformations and contribute to key ecosystem processes?\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cHow will all of this be impacted by climate change?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foley\u2019s\u00a0DOE award of $18,000 will enable\u00a0her\u00a0to work with\u00a0senior staff scientist Jennifer\u00a0Pett-Ridge\u00a0at\u00a0Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory\u00a0(LLNL)\u202fin\u00a0California for six months.\u00a0Her work\u00a0will be\u00a0a component of\u00a0Pett-Ridge\u2019s research, which\u00a0looks at how the traits of microorganisms during their life and the composition of their\u00a0necromass\u00a0after death matter for how long carbon is sequestered in soils.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSoils are earth’s largest terrestrial pool of organic carbon, so these research questions are driven by their relevance to carbon cycling and climate change. My project will use\u00a0metatranscriptomics\u00a0to analyze how microbial expression of genes involved in carbohydrate depolymerization changes with drought,\u201d Foley said.\u00a0\u201cOverall,\u00a0we want to understand how changing soil water dynamics, emergent properties of complex soil habitats and microbial trait expression interact to drive carbon transformations.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to my time at LLNL.\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Pett-Ridge has been integral to all of my dissertation work, something that my Ph.D.\u00a0advisor,\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Hungate,\u00a0has facilitated and encouraged.\u00a0The two\u00a0have been collaborating for years and together bring a creative and quantitative angle to these research questions that really resonate with me and are central to my dissertation, and there\u2019s tremendous synergy between the work being done at NAU and LLNL that is steeped in omics approaches, stable isotope probing and other cutting-edge techniques in quantitative microbial ecology\u2014the heart of which lies in ecosystem ecology. I\u2019m excited to be immersed in the work that the LLNL team is doing and to see how this research gets done at a large DOE-funded\u00a0national lab.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Said\u00a0Hungate,\u00a0\u201cMegan is amazing. Along with her cutting-edge research, she\u2019s teaching a course on intersectionality in science, bringing the national conversations about equity and access to the science classroom. She\u2019s about to teach another one, too, all about extreme microbes. All of this on top of her research, which is pushing the field of microbial ecology forward. She\u2019s a multi-talented rising star,\u00a0and I\u2019m so proud of her.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kerry Bennett | Office of the Vice President for Research<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graduate students\u00a0Maria Bolar\u00a0and\u00a0Megan Foley\u00a0are the first from\u00a0Northern Arizona University\u00a0to receive awards from the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s\u00a0(DOE)\u00a0Office of Science Graduate Student Research\u00a0(SCGSR)\u00a0program. Only 65 graduate students from\u00a0throughout\u00a0the country were recognized this year.\u00a0Through world-class training and access to state-of-the-art facilities and resources at DOE national laboratories,\u00a0the program\u00a0prepares graduate students to enter jobs of critical importance to…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":64252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}