LEADERSHIP TEAM
LEADERSHIP
Johney Green
Laboratory Director and President
Johney Green serves as the director of Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), and is president and CEO of Battelle Savannah River Alliance, LLC (BSRA). Green is responsible for the management, operation and strategic direction of the laboratory. SRNL is a multi-program national laboratory with an annual operating budget of about $400 million, and the lab is leading research and development institution for the Offices of Environmental Management and Legacy Management at the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Weapons and Nonproliferation programs for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Green formerly served as the Associate Laboratory Director for Mechanical and Thermal Engineering Sciences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where he was responsible for research and development to enable technology innovations in energy efficiency, sustainable mobility and renewable power. Green created NREL’s Flatirons Campus, building a premier multi-program research campus. Green also spearheaded development of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) unique research platform. Prior to his 8-year tenure at NREL, Green held several leadership roles during a 21-year span at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) including Director of the Energy and Transportation Science division and Group leader for Fuels, Engines and Emissions Research. During his tenure ORNL developed the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy demonstration project, a model of innovative vehicle-to-grid integration technologies and next generation manufacturing processes. Green is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an SAE International fellow. He has served on the Defense Science Board and on several advisory boards including those at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Memphis. Green was the recipient of a National GEM Consortium Fellowship and previously served as chair of the board for the National GEM Consortium. He previously served on the advisory board at the University of Tennessee. Green holds two U.S. patents in combustion science and has an h-index of 34 with more than 5,230 citations.
Dana Hewit
Deputy Director, Operations
Dana Hewit is the deputy laboratory director of operations at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). Hewit serves as SRNL’s chief operations officer, ensuring the laboratory operates safely, securely and efficiently in support of the Department of Energy’s mission. She oversees facilities and infrastructure, mission support services, safety and security — providing the operational foundation which enables SRNL’s scientists and engineers the resources they need to be innovative and succeed. Hewit has more than 25 years of experience in laboratory leadership positions, including several roles within the National Laboratory complex. Prior to joining SRNL in October 2025, Hewit led the Office of Integrated Performance Management at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, supporting the development, integration and implementation of the mission support strategy for the laboratory. During her time at Oak Ridge, Hewit also served as the chief operations officer for physical sciences. Before joining ORNL, she spent two years at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories as the chief operations officer supporting the research and development vice president. Hewit previously served as chief operations officer for the Idaho National Laboratory, supporting the associate laboratory director of nuclear science and technology in research and development. She joined Idaho National Laboratory in 1999 as a mechanical engineer supporting site operations. Her INL experience of 19 years also included being the deputy director of the Nuclear Fuels and Materials Division and program manager for the GTRI Domestic Reactor Conversions. She managed various other projects involving spent fuel removal and research experiments. Hewit earned her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Central Florida. Prior to moving to Idaho, she worked at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida where she designed cryogenic and high-pressure gas systems.
Tammy Taylor
Deputy Laboratory Director, Science and Technology
Tammy Taylor is the deputy director of Science and Technology at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). She serves as SRNL’s chief research officer and is responsible for the Science and Energy Security Mission initiative, instilling the proper safety culture in the research organizations, and delivering an integrated science and technology strategy. Taylor previously served as SRNL’s associate laboratory director for Global Security, responsible for delivering on the nonproliferation and global security components of national security programs and assuring delivery of all nonproliferation program commitments across the laboratory. This includes developing programs to minimize global inventory of nuclear materials for the Department of Energy (DOE) and spearheading new research and development activities with the Department of Defense and civilian governmental agencies. Taylor’s experiences prior to her arrival at SRNL in June of 2021 included serving as director of the International Data Center for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, where she led an international technical organization at the United Nations Vienna International Centre. The organization was responsible for detecting and verifying nuclear explosions, which was accomplished by developing and implementing complex operations, treaty compliance, budgets, strategy, and capacity-building. Taylor has spent her career serving at other DOE national laboratories, including as a deputy associate director and division director at Los Alamos National Laboratory and as chief operating officer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Taylor is a recognized subject-matter expert in global security and has authored more than 70 publications. Additionally, she is a Emeritus member and former board of directors’ appointee of the National Council of Radiation Protection and Measurements, a long-time member of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management and the Health Physics Society. Taylor has a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from New Mexico State University, and a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in environmental engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Brian Bluhm
Associate Laboratory Director, Global Security
Brian Bluhm has served as the associate laboratory director for the Global Security Directorate since July 2025. Bluhm joined SRNL in October 2023 after an impressive, 24-year career at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In August 2023, he completed a three-year Change-of-Station assignment as a technical advisor to the Weapons Development Detection portfolio within Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development. Prior to this assignment, Bluhm was the deputy division leader for Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation at LANL, where he led approximately 200 staff members focusing on nuclear safeguards, emergency response, and criticality safety. Bluhm’s extensive career also includes his role as a program manager within the Intelligence and Emerging Threats program office at LANL. Earlier in his career, Bluhm served as the team leader for powder characterization of actinide materials within LANL’s plutonium facility. Bluhm holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Texas A&M University and a B.S. in Chemistry from North Carolina State University.
Patrick Garcia
Associate Laboratory Director, Weapons Production Technology
Patrick Garcia is the associate laboratory director for Weapons Production Technology at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). In this role, he is responsible for delivering on all SRNL weapons program components of the National Security Initiative, leading SRNL’s Research and Development efforts to deliver more efficient tritium-based processing technologies, leading materials research to improve the understanding of gas/metal interactions, establishing technical competencies supporting plutonium pit production, and supporting new technologies for more efficient production of helium-3. Prior to joining SRNL, Garcia was the senior director of the Stockpile Management Office within the Production Agency at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). He held multiple technical and programmatic leadership roles over his 31 years of service at LANL, including leading the Weapon Systems Engineering Division, the program integration office start up, the warhead manager of the W76 Mk4/4A and W88 Mk5, lead of Design Agency (DA) Surveillance and DA system, the W76 System Surveillance Engineer, and Pit Surveillance Engineer. Additionally, he was a member of several groups while at LANL, including Mk4/4A and Mk5 Project Officer Group and the Joint Re-Entry System Working Group with the United Kingdom Trident Program. Prior to his work at LANL, he was a rod mill production engineer for American Rolling Mill Company. Garcia has earned multiple Defense Programs Award of Excellence from the National Nuclear Security Administration, a LANL Distinguished Performance Award, and the Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award. Garcia has a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from New Mexico State University.
Roderick Jackson
Associate Laboratory Director for Science, Engineering, and Innovation
Roderick Jackson serves as the Associate Laboratory Director for Science, Engineering, and Innovation at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), where he leads efforts to integrate fundamental research, applied engineering, and innovation into a cohesive, mission-driven framework. Before joining SRNL, Jackson served as Laboratory Program Manager at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, where he directed the strategic agenda for advanced building technologies. As program manager for the Buildings Research Program, he guided multidisciplinary research funded by the Department of Energy to enhance building efficiency, sustainability, and integration with broader energy systems. He also provided critical leadership for the development of the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) research platform, optimizing connections between buildings, grid systems, and thermal technologies to further facilitate comprehensive energy solutions. Prior to his work at NLR, Jackson served as group leader for Building Envelope Systems Research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His leadership there bridged basic science and engineering to deliver efficient, durable, and cost-effective building materials and systems. Jackson also spearheaded the internationally recognized Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy project, which demonstrated innovative energy approaches by integrating 3D-printed buildings and vehicles with cutting-edge energy generation, consumption, and storage technologies. Jackson has been recognized for his contributions to energy science and engineering, including being named a DOE Oppenheimer Science and Engineering Fellow and serving on the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Research Advisory Board. His thought leadership extends to Congress, where he has testified on energy issues, and to academia, with coauthored high-impact publications in premier journals such as Nature Energy, Energy & Environmental Science, and Advanced Functional Materials. Jackson holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Eric Pierce
Associate Laboratory Director, Environmental and Legacy Management
Eric Pierce serves as associate laboratory director for Environmental and Legacy Management (EM&LM) at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). He is accountable for managing and delivering on the EM&LM commitments of SRNL, supporting the Department of Energy’s EM strategies, developing modern approaches to reduce waste, developing low-cost passive remediation technologies, monitoring strategies for EM&LM implementation, and supporting national needs to minimize global environmental impact. Prior to SRNL, Pierce served as director of the Environmental Science Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. During his 15 years at ORNL, he progressed through a range of leadership opportunities – including principal investigator, senior scientist, program lead, and deputy division director – building strong relationships with DOE and mentoring young scientific leaders. An experimental geochemist, Pierce has led DOE and DoD-supported programs addressing legacy contamination across multiple sites including Hanford and the Oak Ridge Reservation. Before joining ORNL, Pierce spent more than a decade at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where he advanced from an undergraduate intern to senior research scientist. Pierce is a Fellow of the Oppenheimer Science and Energy Leadership Program and is active in many professional societies, including the American Chemical Society, European Geochemical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Ceramics Society, and Geochemical Society. He’s published more than 100 journal articles, books, and reports. Pierce received his Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Tulane University and his B.S. in Environmental Science with a minor in Chemistry from Alabama A&M University.
Dale Sivils
Director, Plutonium Processing Program
Dale is the director for plutonium processing program at Savannah River National Laboratory. In this role, he is responsible for the emerging SRNL nuclear weapons program including product engineering, production process development, analytical chemistry, materials characterization, and quality engineering. Prior to this role, Dale was the Director of Science and Technology, Weapons Production Technology Program Office and Executive Team Leader for pit production technology at SRNL, where he served as the pit production technical authority and primary interface with the weapon design agencies for product engineering. Dale spent 20 years in various leadership roles at Los Alamos National Laboratory, including Director for Production Agency Quality Division, Plutonium Science and Manufacturing; Executive Advisor for Plutonium Sciences and Manufacturing; Senior Science and Technology Advisor for NNSA Military Applications and Stockpile Operations, and Group Leader for Applied Chemical Technology. During his career he has been awarded the Defense Programs Award of Excellence four times and is a recipient of R&D Magazine’s “R&D 100 Award”. Dale received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Missouri University of Science and Technology and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Arkansas-Monticello.