Today, President Obama named 102 scientists and researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.   “I congratulate these outstanding scientists and engineers on their impactful work,” President Obama said. “These innovators are working to help keep the United States on the cutting edge, showing that Federal investments in science lead to advancements that expand our knowledge of the world around us and contribute to our economy.”   The Presidential Early Career Awards highlight the key role that the Administration places in encouraging and accelerating American innovation to grow our economy and tackle our greatest challenges. This year’s recipients are employed or funded by the following departments and agencies: Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of the Interior, Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, and the Intelligence Community. These departments and 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.   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 newest recipients are:   Department of Agriculture Michelle Cilia, USDA Agricultural Research Service Pankaj Lal, Montclair State University Michael Ulyshen, USDA Forest Service   Department of Commerce Nicholas Butch, NIST Center for Neutron Research Mandy Karnauskas, NOAA Fisheries Anne Perring, University of Colorado, Boulder Corey Potvin, University of Oklahoma John Teufel, NIST Physical Measurement Laboratory Justin Zook, NIST Material Measurement Laboratory   Department of Defense Michael Bell, Colorado State University Nurcin Celik, University of Miami Kaushik Chowdhury, Northeastern University Shawn Douglas, University of California, San Francisco Christopher Dyer, DeepMind and Carnegie Mellon University Aaron Esser-Kahn, University of California, Irvine Sinan Keten, Northwestern University Jonathan Fan, Stanford University Danna Freedman, Northwestern University Thomas Harris, Northwestern University David Hsieh, California Institute of Technology Osama Nayfeh, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center-Pacific Olukayode Okusaga, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory  Joseph Parker, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory  Adam Pilchak, Air Force Research Laboratory  Harris Wang, Columbia University   Department of Education Daphna Bassok, University of Virginia Shayne Piasta, The Ohio State University   Department of Energy Jonathan Belof, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Carl Dahl, Northwestern University Eric Duoss, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Anna Grassellino, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Jacqueline Hakala, National Energy Technology Laboratory Stephanie Hansen, Sandia National Laboratories Kory Hedman, Arizona State University Alan Kruizenga, Sandia National Laboratories Wei Li, Rice University Guglielmo Scovazzi, Duke University Michael Tonks, Penn State University Jenny Yang, University of California, Irvine John Yeager, Los Alamos National Laboratory   Department of Health and Human Services Gregory Alushin, Rockefeller University Manish Arora, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Dawn Cornelison, University of Missouri Kashmira Date, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Craig Duvall, Vanderbilt University Nicholas Gilpin, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center  Anna Greka, Brigham and Women's Hospital Pamela Guerrerio, National Institutes of Health Gery Guy, Jr., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Christine Hendon, Columbia University Catherine Karr, University of Washington Maria Lehtinen, Boston Children's Hospital Adriana Lleras-Muney, University of California, Los Angeles Mary Kay Lobo, University of Maryland School of Medicine Michael McAlpine, University of Minnesota Eric Morrow, Brown University  Daniel O'Connor, Johns Hopkins University Aimee Shen, Tufts University Cui Tao, University of Texas Jacquelyn Taylor, Yale School of Nursing Benjamin Voight, University of Pennsylvania Matthew Wheeler, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Blake Wiedenheft, Montana State University     Department of Interior Nathaniel Hitt, U.S. Geological Survey Sarah Minson, U.S. Geological Survey Diann Prosser, U.S. Geological Survey   Department of Veterans Affairs Adam Rose, RAND Corporation and Boston Medical Center Nasia Safdar, Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital Joshua Yarrow, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs   Environmental Protection Agency Havala Pye, Environmental Protection Agency Sala Senkayi, Environmental Protection Agency   Intelligence Community Matthew Dicken, U.S. Army Josiah Dykstra, National Security Agency James Kang, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Jason Matheny, Office of the Director of National Intelligence David Moehring, IonQ, Inc. R. Jacob Vogelstein, Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity   National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jeremy Bassis, University of Michigan Othmane Benafan, NASA Glenn Research Center Dalia Kirschbaum, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Marco Pavone, Stanford University Miguel Roman, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center   National Science Foundation Alicia Alonzo, Michigan State University Randy Ewoldt, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Emily Fox, University of Washington Jacob Fox, Stanford University Eric Hudson, University of California, Los Angeles Shawn Jordan, Arizona State University Ahmad Khalil, Boston University Oleg Komogortsev, Texas State University, San Marcos John Kovac, Harvard University Bérénice Mettler, University of Minnesota and icuemotion, LLC Jelani Nelson, Harvard University Elizabeth Nolan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Michael Rotkowitz, University of Maryland, College Park Andrea Sweigart, University of Georgia Chuanbing Tang, University of South Carolina Aradhna Tripati, University of California, Los Angeles Franck Vernerey, University of Colorado, Boulder Juan Pablo Vielma Centeno, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Makeba Wilbourn, Duke University      Smithsonian Institution Nicholas Pyenson, Smithsonian Institution