Allison Ray is the Research Excellence officer for Science & Technology. Ray serves as the Office of Science (SC) coordinator and chairs the SC Council at INL, ensuring integration of the laboratory’s SC strategy through Laboratory-Directed Research and Development, business development, and early career outreach to promote a vibrant research culture. She also leads INL’s Research Culture Initiative to amplify science and strengthen research excellence. Ray was appointed by Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology and Chief Research Officer Marianne Walck to assist with various laboratory and corporate initiatives for improving research outcomes, and in executing the laboratory director’s strategy to continuously improve the quality, impact and relevance of INL research.  

 

 

 

Prior to this appointment, Ray led the Feedstock Variability Task as part of the Feedstock Conversion Interface Consortium funded through the Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office. In this role, she provided technical vision and leadership and managed a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers across six national laboratories in multiscale characterization of lignocellulosic biomass to explore compositional and structural attributes that impact the quality and conversion to fuel intermediates. Allison graduated with a doctorate in environmental microbiology from Idaho State University. Her dissertation focused on microbially mediated transformation of metallic contaminants for bioremediation of metals and radionuclides in subsurface environments. She also received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in biological engineering from Purdue University.