Chemistry graduate student Cocoro Nagasaka works at the interface of environmental and energy sciences. And now he’s continuing his research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, or LLNL, through the prestigious U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Graduate Student Research program.

University of California researchers, in collaboration with University of Michigan researchers, have developed a method to take carbon dioxide, an industrial waste product that pollutes the atmosphere, and turn it into something useful: precursors to make cement.

Rachel Siegel is among the 86 graduate students selected to participate in the Office of Science Graduate Research (SCGSR) program. According to the DOE, graduate students selected to participate in the program are working on research projects that address "critical energy, environmental and nuclear challenges at national and international scales.”