ERSD Researcher Receives E.O. Lawrence Award

Summary

John Zachara, senior chief scientist for environmental chemistry in the Chemical and Materials Sciences Division at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been announced by DOE as a winner of the prestigious Ernest Orlando Lawrence award. The E.O. Lawrence award honors scientists and engineers at mid-career for exceptional contributions to research and technology development in support of DOE missions, and consists of a gold medal, a citation, and an honorarium of $50,000. Dr. Zachara’s many contributions to understanding the geochemical mechanisms affecting the transport of metals and radionuclides in contaminated subsurface environments at DOE sites have provided the scientific basis needed for making sound decisions for environmental remediation in support of DOE’s cleanup mission. His work with 99Tc, U, Cr and in particular his contributions on understanding the fate of 137Cs in contaminant plumes underneath the tanks at Hanford have led to new conceptual models on the mobility of these contaminants in the subsurface and contributed to substantially reduced cost estimates for remediation. Dr. Zachara has been a long-time principal investigator funded by the research programs within the Environmental Remediation Sciences Division (ERSD) within the Office of Science. He is the lead investigator for several research projects, and he is currently leading a major $3M/year field research project recently funded by ERSD at the Hanford 300 Area. The award will be presented to Dr. Zachara, and seven other winners representing other areas of science, at a ceremony in Washington, DC, in the spring of 2007.