Oak Ridge National Laboratory has appointed Kate Evans as associate laboratory director for the Biological and Environmental Systems Science Directorate (BESSD), signaling a strategic push to apply exascale computing, data analytics, and autonomous research pipelines to energy stability, climate adaptation, and biotechnology innovation.

Evans brings a strong leadership background at ORNL and is also affiliated with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Bredesen Center, fostering university-lab collaboration.

She maintains a faculty role at UT‑Knoxville and holds affiliations with professional societies including the American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

Her educational foundation includes advanced degrees from Georgia Tech and a physics bachelor’s degree from Haverford College, underpinning her quantitative science leadership.

Evans’ extensive experience in computational sciences, exascale computing, machine learning, and quantum computing roadmaps underpins her readiness to helm BESSD’s diverse portfolio.

In her new role, she aims to advance science and technology for energy security, infrastructure protection, and biotechnology innovation through integrated computation and data-driven methods.

The appointment emphasizes integrating advanced computation, data analytics, and autonomous research to accelerate ORNL’s mission in energy resilience, environmental stewardship, and biotechnological development.

Previously, Evans led the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division, directing scalable computing initiatives across physics, engineering, health sciences, and quantum information.

She was honored with the SIAM Activity Group on Mathematics of Planet Earth Prize in 2024 for multidisciplinary algorithms, scientific computing, and cross-disciplinary leadership.

Her award reflects ongoing leadership in cross-disciplinary computing and active participation in major scientific societies.

During her time directing ORNL’s Office of Institutional Strategic Planning, she helped craft the Annual Lab Plan and Laboratory Agenda, contributed to ORNL’s Quantum Roadmap, oversaw LDRD, and led the Accelerating Southeast Resilience initiative.

Her work also included coordinating lab-wide science and technology planning to shape long-term research priorities and investments.