
Eight PNNL Researchers Elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences
Eight researchers from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have been newly elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS), joining 28 other new members in the 2025 cohort. One PNNL researcher was elected as a new officer to the WSAS board.
“We are pleased to recognize the achievements of these world-renowned scientists, engineers, and innovators,” said WSAS President Allison Campbell. “And we are grateful for their willingness to contribute expertise from a wide range of fields and institutions to support the state in making informed choices in a time of growing complexity.”
The 2025 class of new members is composed of 30 scientists and engineers elected by their WSAS peers and six members recently elected to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, who live or work in Washington State.
New members will be inducted at the WSAS’s twentieth anniversary celebration at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, on October 7, 2025.
Scott Baker
Baker is PNNL’s Microbial Molecular Phenotyping group leader and part of the team developing the Microbial Molecular Phenotyping Capability for the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE Office of Science user facility located on the PNNL-Richland campus. He is recognized for his seminal contributions to fungal genomics, including advocacy for sequencing diverse fungal species, discovery of biosynthetic pathways for mycotoxins, and advancements in fungal biotechnology to foster a robust and economical bioeconomy.
Jeff Dagle
Dagle is a chief electrical engineer at PNNL and currently manages several projects in the areas of transmission reliability and resilience for DOE’s Office of Electricity and other clients. For the past year, he has done work for the DOE Under Secretary for Science and Innovation supporting the DOE’s Grid Modernization Initiative. Dagle is recognized for his national and international leadership to advance electric system infrastructure operational security and resilience, and his technical contributions to real-time grid reliability and wide-area monitoring systems.
Ram Devanathan
Devanathan is the director of the Energy Processes and Materials Division in PNNL’s Energy and Environment Directorate. He is recognized for leadership in computational materials science, including advancements in multiscale modeling, pioneering artificial intelligence for materials discovery, and addressing critical challenges in energy, national security, and environmental remediation, significantly influencing the field and driving innovation.
Heida Diefenderfer
Diefenderfer is an Earth scientist at PNNL and joint appointee at University of Washington who studies river floodplain and coastal wetlands. She is recognized for leadership in long-term, large-scale multidisciplinary research to inform restoration. She has researched hydropower on the Columbia River and juvenile salmon status in Puget Sound, with national and international influence on policy and scientific methods.
Kirsten Hofmockel
Hofmockel is a chief scientist in PNNL’s Biological Sciences Division, who studies the molecular mechanisms of plant–microbe ecology and how they influence soil biogeochemistry. She is recognized for pioneering contributions to the modern understanding of soil nutrient and carbon cycling, and for influencing the national research agenda through workshop reports, innovative experiments, creative community research, and training of the next generation of environmental scientists.
Michael Kintner-Meyer
Kintner-Meyer is a research engineer and systems analyst in energy and economy. He is recognized for contributions advancing grid-friendly vehicle charging technologies and vehicle grid integration strategies, as well as leadership in national and international assessments of energy storage technologies.
Tom Metz
Metz is a Laboratory Fellow and the chief science officer of PNNL’s Biological Sciences Division. He is internationally recognized for his expertise in metabolomics and lipidomics, including the application of omics technologies to biomedical research with over 200 publications, and for leadership as a founding member and president of the Metabolomics Association of North America.
Ljiljana Paša-Tolić
Paša-Tolić, a Laboratory Fellow and lead scientist at EMSL, as been elected as Secretary to the WSAS board. She has served as WSAS’s interim secretary since March 2025 and was elected to WSAS in 2021 and to the Board in 2022. She will join President Allison Campbell and Treasurer Jonathan Yoder on the executive committee.
Anthony Peurrung
Peurrung, now retired, was PNNL’s Deputy Director for Science and Technology. He is recognized for major contributions to scientific foundations of nuclear threat detection technology, related work to enhance U.S. national security, and leadership in strengthening and expanding Washington State's innovation ecosystem.

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