Geographical sciences have been instrumental at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories for addressing the nation’s energy, environment, and national security missions. In turn, over the last 75 years, the national laboratories have made key contributions to the development and applications of many areas in geographical and mapping sciences; from the early roots of geographical science in addressing basic scientific problems, to applications for an increasing diversity of problems of national priority including monitoring effects of nuclear testing, survey of nationwide energy reserves, environmental restoration, and response to national emergencies. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been a pioneer in embracing geography as a key disciplinary competency. As ORNL emerged as the leader in the world of high-performance computing, it presented a unique opportunity to explore the possibilities of employing the world’s largest supercomputers to emerging computational approaches in geographical sciences. This presentation will explore how research and development at a DOE national laboratory continues to shape the world of geographic data and geospatial computing to deliver novel real-world applications and address some of the compelling societal challenges in population and urban dynamics, sustainable energy and mobility, and climate change science.

Dr. Budhendra “Budhu” Bhaduri is a Corporate Research Fellow and the director of the National Security Emerging Technologies Division at ORNL. He holds professorial appointments with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Over his career, he has catalyzed the integration of geographical sciences in the laboratory’s and DOE’s mission. Dr. Bhaduri’s research has had global impact and has benefited the U.S. federal missions, international organizations, and private foundations. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and currently serves on the Geographical Sciences Committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.