PNNL

Jingshan Du, a postdoctoral fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has taken on a role as an associate editor in the Chemistry and Materials Section of Frontiers for Young Minds (FYM). Du began his unbounded tenure with FYM in 2023.

FYM is a non-profit project that aims “to connect curious minds to the experts and information that will motivate them to ask informed and critical questions about real science throughout their lives.” It seeks to bring cutting-edge scientific discoveries to audiences from ages 8–15. Distinguished scientists across all fields write articles in accessible, plain language. Each article is assigned a young reviewer—a kid who provides feedback on the understandability of the work.

FYM is an open-access project that publishes both new discovery and core concept articles. New discovery articles are based on newly published scientific research and must include at least one author on the primary peer-reviewed publication. Core concept articles explain fundamental ideas in science and require contribution from a senior scientist.

“FYM is an amazing project,” said Du. “I’m excited to help get more articles on chemistry and materials science published. I think FYM provides an incredibly valuable resource for anyone interested in science, not just kids.”

As an associate editor, Du will handle and commission manuscripts across chemistry and materials science. He will also build a team of science mentors who directly work with the young reviewers and oversee the review process.

Du began his time at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a Washington Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in 2021. His work examines how ice forms at the nanoscale. While ice is incredibly common, scientific knowledge of its early formation stages has been limited. Du has worked to develop new methods to visualize materials at low temperatures to see ice structures and their evolution at the atomic scale. In 2022, he was named to the Early Career Editorial Advisory Board of ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering where he contributes to the peer review process and journal development.