Karly Harrod, a fresh talent a little over a year into her role at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has already bagged the Fiscal Year 24 Early Career Competition Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) award. In a statement obtained by ORNL News, Harrod expressed the award's significance, pointing out that it catapulted her into leading her own project. "The award has allowed me to quickly enter the realm of PI’ing my own project," Harrod said, detailing the rapid expansion of her responsibilities from proposal writing to managing research teams.
Despite a background steeped in mathematics and statistics, Harrod has pivoted towards applying these disciplines within humanitarian contexts, such as climate and disease outbreaks. In her early years, a blend of puzzles and the influence of her nurse mother sparked a dichotomy of interests. She chose the applied track for both her majors, driven by her fondness for real-world problem-solving. Her academic journey later led her to Notre Dame's Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics Department, as mentioned in the ORNL News article.
The energy at ORNL is palpable with Harrod's current endeavors. "Specifically, I’m working on extracting disease occurrence data from a corpus of disease reports," Harrod told ORNL News. This project is propelled by the challenge of data scarcity in disease modeling, a crucial area when it comes to predicting and managing outbreaks. It's the ingenuity and necessity of such research that underscores the value of her work and depicts ORNL's commitment to tackling pressing global challenges.
With experiences at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Lab already enriching her resume, Harrod finds ORNL's unique allure in its geographical location, near the Smoky Mountains and the affordability of the Knoxville area. When not engaged in groundbreaking research, she has undertaken a personal project of historical dimension—dating homes in her Old Mechanicsville neighborhood, a task that has unfolded her interest in historical research.
Even outside the lab, Harrod keeps the gears of her curiosity turning. She is currently reading "Handbell Compendium" by Michael Jedamzik, an extensive resource on handbells that touches upon the science and technique behind the instrument. As cited in the ORNL News interview, Harrod reminisces about her time playing in handbell choirs during her undergraduate and graduate years and continues this musical journey within the Knoxville community. ORNL, managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, continues to foster researchers like Harrod, tackling daunting challenges with their unparalleled contributions.
