The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden has appointed Maureen McCann, a prominent plant biologist, to the position of senior research fellow, the highest technical rank for a scientist at NREL. Currently, there are only 16 senior research fellows among the more than 4,000 employed at the laboratory.
Fellows are nominated by the leaders of NREL’s five research directorates, with significant input from peer scientists during the selection process. In her new role, McCann will provide strategic guidance to NREL’s executive leadership as they pursue advanced energy solutions.
“The role of senior research fellow carries great responsibility at NREL,” Laboratory Director Martin Keller said. “They are in the trenches every day, conducting and overseeing research while also keeping an eye on the bigger picture and evaluating our long-term approaches. Elevation to this position is a recognition of Maureen’s talent, experience and leadership and our belief that she can help take the laboratory to new heights.”
McCann joined NREL in 2020, leading the laboratory’s Biosciences Center, which focuses on understanding, predicting and controlling biological processes to benefit the bioindustrial and agricultural sectors. Prior to NREL, she served as a professor of biological sciences and directed the NEPTUNE Center for Power and Energy at Purdue University. McCann also led an Energy Frontier Research Center there, which included NREL as a senior partner. In 2023, she became the associate director of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, a collaboration between NREL and the University of Colorado Boulder.
McCann’s research career emphasizes biochemical, genetic and molecular biology approaches to understanding how the plant cell wall affects plant structure and function. Her work seeks to engineer more productive and resilient plants for biofuel, chemical and material applications.
Her research also focuses on the molecular basis of biomass recalcitrance, enhancing the efficiency of converting plant biomass into sugars and chemicals. By improving the understanding of biomass preparation, her findings could reduce energy requirements, making biofuel and biochemical production more cost-effective.
McCann has authored or co-authored over 120 peer-reviewed articles and has a lifetime h-index of 65, with nearly 22,000 citations. She holds degrees from Churchill College at the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. in botany from the University of East Anglia.
