Dr. L. Ruby Leung, an internationally renowned atmospheric scientist specializing in climate modeling and the water cycle at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to lead the Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy (ACME) project as Chief Climate Scientist. In this role, Leung will help guide the science behind one of DOE’s most important areas of research: transforming the Nation’s ability to predict climate change and its impacts. Dr. Leung also leads NGEE-Tropics’ hydrological research to advance understanding and model representation of tropical forest surface and subsurface water and its availability to plants.