M. T. Thomas Award for Outstanding Postdoctoral Achievement
Dr. M. T. (Tom) Thomas
Purpose: To acknowledge outstanding accomplishments by postdoctoral fellows who conduct their research in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL).
The award is named in honor of Dr. M. Tom Thomas, who joined the EMSL project team in 1987 and served in various leadership capacities as the project progressed from conceptualization to realization. Tom served as the EMSL Project Manager from 1989 to 1991, and was the EMSL Operations Manager before retiring from Battelle in 1995.
Nature: The award consists of a commemorative plaque and a $1000 cash award. The recipient is requested to deliver a seminar describing the outstanding accomplishment. A plaque that lists all recipients is displayed in the EMSL. Nominations are solicited each January.
Current Recipient:
2007 Dr. Zhenrong Zhang, PNNL, for recognition of her success in achieving the first atomically resolved high-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy measurements on TiO2(110) and of her insightful contributions to understanding the adsorbate reactivity and diffusion dynamics on TiO2.
2006 Dr. Jin Zhao, University of Pittsburgh, for her seminal contributions to the theory of the unoccupied electronic structure and dynamics of solid-adsorbate interfaces, which are of fundamental importance to geochemistry, atmospheric science, and energy related interfacial phenomena.
2005 Dr. Sebastien Kerisit for his outstanding accomplishments accomplishments that include seminal and novel theoretical advancements in understanding electron transfer reactions at environmental interfaces and its impact on the field of geochemistry.
2004 Dr. Alexandre Shvartsburg for his outstanding accomplishments in the development of a fundamental understanding of ion mobility-based methods and instrumentation, including FAIMS, which involved comprehensive theoretical modeling and computational simulations.
2003 Dr. Xin Yang for his contributions to the development of electrospray-photoelectron spectroscopy techniques and for leading its use in new research directions, including the investigation of complex anion solvations in the gas phase and the electronic structure of the active site of Fe-S proteins.
2002 Dr. Julia Laskin for her pivotal experimental and theoretical contributions to the fundamental understanding of collision and surface-induced activation and fragmentation of large molecules and peptides.
2001 Dr. Michael B. Goshe for his landmark discovery known as the phosphoprotein isotope-coded affinity tag (PhIAT) methodology, which enables researchers to rapidly isolate and characterize essentially any protein modified with a phosphate group.
2000 Dr. Zdenek Dohnálek for his experimental and theoretical contributions to understanding the crystallization, morphology, and properties of amorphous solid water, and to the molecular-beam synthesis of chemically tailored nanoporous films.
1999 Dr. Xuebin Wang for his phenomenal scientific accomplishments and productivity, and specifically for his major contributions to the design and construction of a new experimental apparatus to investigate multiply charged anions, his outstanding discoveries using this apparatus, and his penetrating insight in interpreting and understanding the experimental results.
1998 Dr. Matthew T. Sieger for his research on electron-stimulated desorption from environmentally important interfaces, and for the theoretical and experimental development of new surface probe techniques based on electron standing waves.
1997 Dr. Lukas Novotny for his contributions to the theoretical understanding of near-field optical microscopy, especially in demonstrating the feasibility of optical trapping and manipulation at a nanometer scale.
1996 Dr. Ramona S. Taylor for her contributions to developing a molecular-level understanding of important heterogeneous atmospheric processes.
