Katherine J. Evans

Katherine J. Evans is an Associate Professor with the University of Tennessee and Director of Institutional Strategic Planning at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). She previously led ORNL’s Computational Sciences and Engineering Division and contributes to Earth system model (ESM) evaluation, scalable numerical algorithms, and atmospheric pattern analysis.

Education:

• PhD in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences with Math emphasis, Georgia Institute of Technology (2000)

Research Focus:
Evans integrates computational methods with climate science to enhance ESM efficiency, exploring cross-disciplinary applications in ice sheets, fluid dynamics, disease propagation, and oncology. Her work bridges high-performance computing and multi-scale modeling.

Scientific Awards:

• 2024 SIAM Mathematics of the Planet Earth Prize
• William Rhodes Fellowship (Georgia Tech)
• Senior Dean’s Fellowship (Georgia Tech)

Evans contributes to climate modeling software development and leads computational teams addressing quantum information science, health, and physical sciences challenges. She is affiliated with the Climate Change Science Institute and Computational Sciences and Engineering Division at ORNL.