“For advances in gas phase chemical physics, laser spectroscopy, and molecular quantum mechanics, especially for pioneering contributions to the development and application of helium nanodroplet isolation for the stabilization of transient intermediates in combustion chemistry, and for excellence in student mentoring.” PECASE awards are the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. The awards, established by President Clinton in 1996, are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach. The winners will receive their awards at a Washington, DC, ceremony in the coming year. "The impressive achievements of these early-stage scientists and engineers are promising indicators of even greater successes ahead," President Obama said. "We are grateful for their commitment to generating the scientific and technical advancements that will ensure America's global leadership for many years to come." Federal science agencies join together annually to nominate the most meritorious scientists and engineers whose early accomplishments show the greatest promise for assuring America's preeminence in science and engineering and contributing to the awarding agencies' missions. Gary Douberly was nominated by the Gas Phase Chemical Physics program of the Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, & Biosciences division of the DOE Office of Science for his work on the isolation and stabilization of transient combustion intermediates in ultra-low temperature superfluid helium droplets. Professor Douberly has made significant contributions to the development of helium nanodroplet isolation spectroscopy, a novel technique where droplets of liquid helium freeze out high energy metastable configurations of a reacting system, permitting laser spectroscopic characterizations of products and intermediates that result from hydrocarbon radical reactions with molecular oxygen and other small molecules relevant to combustion environments. The majority of these transient species have never been directly observed in traditional spectroscopy experiments. Professor Douberly’s research group is developing methods to carry out the first direct observation of the elusive hydroperoxyalkyl radical (QOOH) and its oxygen adducts (O2QOOH), which are important in the low temperature hydrocarbon oxidation chemistry associated with homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines. These studies aim to improve our understanding of the detailed mechanisms of hydrocarbon combustion, resulting in more accurate predictive combustion models. Professor Douberly received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Central Florida in 2000 and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006 under the direction of Roger E. Miller and Tomas Baer. Following postdoctoral work with Michael A. Duncan at the University of Georgia, he began his faculty appointment at the University of Georgia in 2008. In addition to the PECASE award, Professor Douberly has received the Early Career Research Program Award from the DOE Office of Science, the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, the Rao Prize, and the Journal of Physical Chemistry Lectureship Award.
