A CONVERSATION WITH JEFF NEATON

The Energy Sciences Area (ESA) provides critical resources and conducts fundamental research related to chemistry and materials sciences, working with scientists at the Lab and beyond to find solutions to the global energy-related challenges that impact our planet. The Energy Sciences Area comprises two user facilities, the Advanced Light Source (ALS) and the Molecular Foundry, and two core research divisions, Chemical Sciences and Materials Sciences. Jeff Neaton, the ESA’s Associate Lab Director, shares how ESA contributes to the Lab’s mission today.

How does the Energy Sciences Area support the Lab’s mission?

The Energy Sciences Area provides the chemistry and materials science backbone for the Lab. This fundamental science backbone underlies all sorts of different research and technologies, including energy technologies of the future. Our core programs in materials and chemistry are home to LBNL staff scientists, faculty scientists with joint appointments at UC Berkeley, and scientists from all over the world. We also manage two of the Lab’s user facilities, the Molecular Foundry, and the Advanced Light Source. In many ways, our programs and facilities are the embodiment of team science at the Lab.

What are the Energy Sciences Area’s top three or four priorities today? Why are they important?

We have three priorities that are very important for the present and future of our Area.

One priority is our workforce, our renowned scientific and operations staff. We have recruited major new talent, and have placed strong emphasis Area-wide on how we integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into our science and operations, building on efforts already in place within some of our divisions. We’ve recently started a mentorship program, created an Area-wide hiring guide, and are now developing an internship program. This work dovetails with the Lab’s IDEA campaign.

We are also focused on the Charter Hill development site, which is located next to the ALS. We are conceptualizing a new set of buildings and developing a science vision that will benefit the entire Lab. These buildings are envisioned to include new chemistry and materials science capabilities, including those harnessing robotics and artificial intelligence, that will accelerate basic and applied research. As part of that, we are also developing a concept called the “Chemical Observatory,” which would integrate state of the art chemistry techniques with the ALS, uniquely taking advantage of this soon-to-be-upgraded user facility.

Finally, we are working on the recapitalization and upgrade of our existing user facilities and core program instrumentation. As many employees know, the ALS and the Molecular Foundry are both going through major upgrades. We are also investing in new instruments for our core programs that will keep us at the frontier of chemistry and materials science.

Who do you partner with at the Lab to be successful?

ESA science is pretty well integrated across the Lab; scientists in all the Lab Areas use our facilities. For the ALS Upgrade (ALS-U) project, we depend heavily on the Engineering Division and on the Accelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division in the Physical Sciences Area. There are also strong connections between ALS and the Biosciences Area, as well as other areas. Our staff are heavy users of computing, including NERSC, and we collaborate with scientists in the Computing Sciences Area, making use of applied mathematics and algorithms developed through joint studies.

Our own core research program in materials sciences and chemistry extends from the Energy Sciences Area into the Biosciences Area and the Earth and Environmental Sciences Area. We have many joint programs with scientists in those Areas.

We rely on operations staff every day for safe, reliable research and operations and to keep our infrastructure in top shape. The staff and leadership of the COO office, Facilities, OCFO, EHS, and Human Resources in particular are very important to us. There is not a single day when we’re not connecting with them on one issue or another.