Tamas Varga leads a team of researchers in the Biogeochemical Transformations team. He has been a senior research scientist at EMSL since 2009. He received his PhD in Chemistry in 2005 from Georgia Institute of Technology following his MS in Chemistry from the University of Debrecen, and MS in Economics from the University of Miskolc, both in Hungary.
Before PNNL, he spent his postdoctoral years at the University of California, Davis (2005-2007) and Argonne National Laboratory (2007-2009). He supports the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray computed tomography (XCT) user program at EMSL, maintains the XRD and XCT facilities in part, and develops his own research program utilizing EMSL's capabilities and those at other national user facilities for collaborative research. As part of user support, he performs XRD characterization of various types of samples (powder, thin film, etc.), and XCT imaging of a range of materials (biological, geological, etc.).
He has published over 110 journal articles, a book chapter, and given several invited talks at conferences and research institutions. He has also been active in scientific editing, conference chairing, proposal review panels in the materials science and synchrotron science areas, and mentoring the younger generation in science.