Saul Perlmutter, George Smoot, Michael Witherell at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Researchers at Berkeley Lab have earned the world’s most prestigious scientific honor 16 times. Lab scientists who win a Nobel Prize have a street named after them.
Light-haired person wearing a white shirt under a dark gray blazer.
  • Chemistry
  • 2022
Light-haired person wearing a black turtleneck.
  • Physics
  • 2022
Jennifer Doudna, a light-haired person wearing a black jacket, smiles in front of a bookcase.
  • Chemistry
  • 2020
Aerial view of UC Berkeley's campus.

The Lab’s partnership with the University of California and its 10 campuses is the most productive integration of a national laboratory with a major research university. In particular, our close ties with UC Berkeley through our faculty appointments and joint research initiatives enrich our programs and bring world-class students to the Lab.

 Small green plant growing in a burned landscape. Erica Woodburn, a dark-haired person, smiles outdoors.

With a team in the Energy Geosciences Division and  Carl Steefel, head of Berkeley Lab’s Geochemistry Department, Erica Siirila-Woodburn is working to investigate the impact of climate change on water availability in watersheds, specifically the effects of the Caldor Fire on the Cosumnes River Basin. Siirila-Woodburn’s research is using various resources at the Lab, including the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) supercomputer, to model the watershed.

Siirila-Woodburn’s work stems from an early-career Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program (FY18–20) project, and is leading to discoveries that can be the basis for future technologies.

 Man in suit standing in front of the Advanced Light Source. Collage of six people laid out three in a row. From top row, left to right: Aindrila Mukhopadhyay, Rangachary Mukundan, Howard Padmore. From bottom row, left to right: Kristin Persson, Whendee Silver, and Dan Stamper-Kurn. Collage of person wearing a blazer and a white shirt with the Nobel prize medal in the background.