Chief of Department of Energy ’s science wing envisions it an as engine of change

When President Joe Biden nominated Asmeret Asefaw Berhe as the seventh director of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science in April 2021, many scientists were surprised. Physicists have most often been tapped to lead the office, which is the United States’s single largest funder of the physical sciences and the premier builder of large scientific machines such as x-ray sources. In contrast, Berhe is a soil biogeochemist who studies dirt’s ability to soak up carbon. Born and raised in Eritrea, she is also the first person of color to lead the agency, which has a $7.5 billion annual budget. Although Berhe, whom the Senate confirmed in May, may not fit the usual description of the director, she is determined to leave her imprint on the agency. She has followed the Biden administration’s lead in pushing to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion both at the Office of Science’s 10 national laboratories and in the research sponsored by its six research programs , such as advance scientific computing research, basic energy sciences, and nuclear physics. Earlier this month, Berhe announced that every grant application to the agency  must include a plan to help promote diversity and inclusion. In a 25 October online press conference, Behre discussed the office’s budget, including an additional $13 billion the recently passed CHIPS and Science Act authorized (but does not obligate) Congress to give it over the next 5 years. Sh...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news