Carol Burns  is responsible for the development, implementation, and stewardship of Berkeley Lab’s research enterprise, and serves as the Lab’s chief research liaison with the DOE Office of Science, the University of California, the other national labs, and other key partners. She joined Berkeley Lab in August 2021.

Burns brings more than 25 years of scientific leadership experience in a national laboratory setting, most recently serving as executive officer to the Deputy Director for Science, Technology, and Engineering at Los Alamos National Laboratory, assisting in oversight of line and DOE program organizations and coordinating the integration of science and technology strategy as well as associated investments and stewardship mechanisms.

She is a recognized expert in f-element and radiochemistry with more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and invited book chapters. She has served on a number of editorial boards, review boards, and advisory panels. She pioneered the development of an entirely new class of high-valent uranium compounds containing metal-ligand multiple bonds, contributing substantially to the understanding of the electronic structure of the early actinides. She is the recipient of a number of awards for scientific achievement and leadership, most recently the American Chemical Society’s Francis P. Garvan-John M. Olin Medal, recognizing distinguished service in chemistry by women chemists. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Burns has extensive experience in the systems enabling the research enterprise in the U.S. national laboratories, including a deep commitment to workforce development and diversity in STEM. She has experience in science policy at the national level, having served as a senior policy analyst in the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Burns received her B.A. in chemistry from Rice University and her Ph.D. in chemistry as a Hertz Foundation Fellow at UC Berkeley.

Michael Brandt serves as a member of the Lab’s senior executive team along with the Laboratory Director and the Deputy Laboratory Director for Research and Chief Research Officer. He joined Berkeley Lab in March 2018.

Brandt provides leadership and direction for the Lab’s operations and mission support organizations and programs, including Environment, Health, and Safety; Facilities Management; Financial and Business Services; Human Resources; Information Technology; Project and Construction Management; Security and Emergency Management; Institutional Assurance and Integrity; and Project Management. He collaborates closely with other senior leaders reporting to the Lab Director’s office, including the Chief Legal Counsel, Chief Engineer, Chief Sustainability Officer, and Chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. 

Before coming to Berkeley Lab, Brandt served as the Associate Laboratory Director of Environment, Safety, and Health (ES&H) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was responsible for Lab-wide ES&H activities for its 12,0000 employees operating in the 38-square-mile Los Alamos site.

He holds a doctorate in public health with a specialty in environmental health sciences and an M.S. in public health policy from the University of Michigan. He also earned an M.S. in environmental health and industrial hygiene from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. in environmental science from Rutgers University.

Brandt has published more than 40 technical and leadership papers and delivered more than 100 invited technical, scientific, and leadership presentations. He has held academic appointments at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, and the College of Public Health at the University of Oklahoma. He served as President of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and was elected an association fellow in 2007.