News Release
Media Contact: Sarah Wright
Communications and External Relations
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Two ORNL researchers designated AAAS Fellows

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Jan. 12, 2009 — Two scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are among the 486 to be elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) at the 2009 Annual Meeting next month in Chicago.

The two awardees are Rebecca Efroymson and Paul Hanson, both of the Environmental Sciences Division. Fellows are selected for outstanding efforts advancing scientifically or socially distinguished science applications.

Election to the rank of fellow is the highest honor bestowed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which is the world's largest general scientific society, and publishes the journal Science. The society strives to advance science through initiatives in science policy, international programs, and science education.

Rebecca Efroymson was recognized for her important contributions to the science and practice of ecological risk assessment.

Efroymson, of the Landscape Ecology and Regional Analysis Group, has performed numerous ecological risk assessments for contaminated sites, including the burial grounds, ponds, streams and watersheds on the Oak Ridge Reservation. Her research evaluating risk to plants, soil invertebrates and microbial processes led to the development of assessment support tools including bioaccumulation models and ecotoxicity benchmarks.

Efroymson earned her bachelor's in biology and English from La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before going on to receive her masters and doctorate in environmental toxicology from Cornell University.

Paul Hanson was cited for distinguished contributions to research on carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems and scientific leadership in the field of forest response to environmental change.

Hanson is group leader of Ecosystem Science and Terrestrial Water-Carbon Cycles groups in the ESD. He has published many articles on forest carbon, water and nutrient cycling and serves as subject editor for the journal Global Change Biology, a forum and focus for biological research on global environmental change.

He earned a bachelor's degree in biology from St. Cloud State University, and a masters in plant physiology and doctorate in tree physiology from the University of Minnesota.

ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy.

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