Hanson, a research staff member in ESD, was the 15th individual to receive the honor which has been given annually to recognize notable research achievement by an individual. He was honored for his outstanding research on the rate and significance of exchange of atmospheric gases between forests and the atmosphere.
Hanson's research has provided valuable insights into leaf and soil-derived processes, key to understanding responses of different types of forests, such as spruce, pine, and forests that are mixes of evergreen and non-evergreen trees, to changes in chemical and physical climate. His ability to examine fundamental physiological fluxes in different conditions ranging from individual leaves to forest canopies and forested watersheds has gained both national and international recognition.
A native of Minnesota, Hanson joined the ORNL research staff as a postdoctoral research associate in 1986 and became a research staff member in ESD in 1992. In 1993, he was selected to be project coordinator for Walker Branch Throughfall Displacement Experiment (TDE), which evaluates the impacts of precipitation change on forest growth and health. He is also an adjunct associate professor in the University of Tennessee's Department of Ecology.
Graduating from St. Cloud State University with a bachelor's degree in biology, Hanson earned a master's degree in plant physiology and doctorate in tree physiology from the University of Minnesota.
Hanson, his wife, Nancy, and two sons, Stuart and Curtis, reside in Oliver Springs.
ORNL, one of DOE's multiprogram national research and development facilities, is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp.