Senior research fellow Dawn Wellman has been appointed to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Innovation Hub executive team, strengthening Savannah River National Laboratory expertise and capabilities in critical minerals and materials. July 14, 2026
Office of Environmental Management
July 14, 2026
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AIKEN, S.C. — Senior research fellow Dawn Wellman has been appointed to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Critical Materials Innovation (CMI) Hub executive team, strengthening Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) expertise and capabilities in critical minerals and materials (CMM).
“Critical materials capabilities have been part of the SRNL story since the lab's founding in the Cold War era,” said SRNL’s Eric Pierce, associate laboratory director for environmental and legacy management. “SRNL's expertise in areas such as separations science, process intensification, materials science, and resource discovery support and expand DOE's critical minerals and energy innovation priorities and CMM-related initiatives.”
Dawn Wellman, Savannah River National Laboratory senior research fellow in critical minerals and materials.
Wellman's extensive industry and national laboratory experience and expertise in this field bolsters SRNL's ability to drive innovation, Pierce said. The new partnership with the CMI Hub will bring additional opportunities to collaborate across industry, academia and the national laboratory complex, he added.
The demand for CMM continues to grow, as they are essential for advanced manufacturing, electronics, energy systems and defense applications. However, with many of these materials sourced primarily from outside the United States, there is an increased urgency to strengthen domestic capabilities for recovery, processing and responsible environmental stewardship.
In her role as the CMI Hub’s science integration lead, Wellman will integrate the capabilities and expertise of all CMI Hub team members to enhance scale-up and commercialization activities, workforce development and education efforts.
The CMI Hub is an Energy Innovation Hub led by the DOE’s Ames National Laboratory with support from the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, a suboffice of DOE’s Office of Critical Materials and Energy Innovation.
The CMI Hub seeks ways to accelerate the development of critical material technologies and enhance the innovation pipeline for U.S. supply chains by accelerating research, educating the workforce, and creating de-risked, commercial-ready technologies in partnership with American industry.
-Contributor: Catelyn Folkert
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