Two scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for 2014. William Collins, a climate scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division, and Heinz Frei, a chemist with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division, were among the 401 AAAS members awarded the distinction of Fellow this year. The honor, a tradition that began in 1874, recognizes distinguished efforts in the scientific and social applications of science for which the recipients are nominated and elected by their AAAS peers.
William “Bill” Collins
Collins was recognized as a AAAS Fellow for “distinguished contributions to the field of climate science through fundamental research on interactions among sunlight, heat, the coupled climate system, and global environmental change.” He heads the Earth Sciences Division’s Climate Sciences Department for Berkeley Lab and also serves as the chief scientist for the Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy (ACME) project, an effort by the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate the development and application of fully coupled, state-of-the-science Earth system models for scientific and energy applications. The plan is to exploit advanced software and new High Performance Computing machines as they become available to address the most challenging and demanding climate change issues.
Heinz Frei
Frei was recognized as a AAAS Fellow for “distinguished contributions to the understanding of photochemical reactions, and, in particular, for the advancement of robust catalysts for solar energy conversion.” He has long been at the forefront of the research effort to develop “artificial photosynthesis,” an emulation of the natural process by which plants capture energy from the sun and convert it into electrochemical energy. A key to realizing commercial-scale artificial photosynthesis technology is the development of electrocatalysts that can efficiently and economically carry out water oxidation, which is Frei’s field of expertise.
The 2014 AAAS Fellows will be presented with certificates and pins on Saturday, 14 February from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, Calif.
Additonal Information
For more about the research of William Collins go here
For more about the research of Heinz Frei go here
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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world’s most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab’s scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. For more, visit www.lbl.gov.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is the world’s largest general scientific society and is the publisher of the journal Science, the largest paid-circulation, peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. Founded in 1848, AAAS includes 261 affiliated societies and academies of science, whose mission is to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, and other areas. For more, visit www.aaas.org.