Seven From NREL Make Return Appearance on Highly Cited Researchers List
Seven researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and one college professor affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy facility are included on this year’s Highly Cited Researchers list.
For two of the NREL researchers, this marks their sixth consecutive year to make the list.
Compiled annually by London-based Clarivate’s Web of Science Group, the Highly Cited Researchers list is awarded to only one out of 1,000 scientists around the world. This year’s list recognized 6,849 individuals, whose research papers are most often cited by other scientists.
The researchers on this year’s list are Matthew Beard, Gregg Beckham, Joe Berry, Joey Luther, Xiaopeng Zheng, Kai Zhu, and Keith Emery. Also included is Michael McGehee, a professor from the University of Colorado–Boulder who has a joint appointment with NREL.
“The cutting-edge research being conducted at NREL resonates across laboratories around the world,” said Bill Tumas, associate laboratory director for the Materials, Chemical, and Computational Science (MCCS) directorate. Three of the researchers named are in MCCS. “The fact that our researchers have become fixtures on the Highly Cited Researchers list each year demonstrates the importance of the work they have done and continue to do.”
Luther, a senior research fellow whose recent work has focused on perovskite solar cells, has appeared on the list for six consecutive years, as has Emery, an emeritus researcher who retired in 2016 after more than 36 years at the laboratory. His widely cited charts of record efficiencies of solar cells has made him a staple on the list.
Zhu, a research scientist also focused on perovskite technology, is making his fifth consecutive appearance on the Highly Cited Researchers list.
“It is an honor to be on the list for the recognition of our research work at NREL,” Zhu said. “For me, I feel very fortunate for having been able to work with a group of talented researchers at NREL. We have different skill sets but a common motivation to help push perovskite PV technologies to the market.”
Beard, a senior research fellow who serves as director of the Center for Hybrid Organic Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy, has appeared on the list five times since 2018, missing only 2019.
“The recognition is due to the great team of people that I work with here at NREL as well as our collaborators,” Beard said. “I am most appreciative of all of the postdocs and graduate students that I work with and who drive all of the impactful science.”
Beckham, a senior research fellow working on the problem of plastics waste, is making his second appearance on the list. He is CEO of the Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE) Consortium.
Berry, a senior research fellow investigating perovskite technology, has appeared on the list for the past three years.
Zheng, a former postdoctoral researcher at NREL who now works at the Chinese Academy of Science, also appeared on last year’s list of Highly Cited Researchers.
The list for 2022 included eight researchers from NREL.