About

What is EMSL? 

The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) is a national user facility providing you—the global scientific community—with shared resources to advance biological and environmental research at the molecular level at no cost to you if your research proposal is selected through our review process. 

Access 150+ instruments, specialized workflows, and supporting data analysis pipelines to solve high-impact scientific problems. 

Our specialized resources enable the following: 

• identifying and measuring molecules in environmental and biological systems from soils to plants to aerosols 
• determining the structure and function of proteins and protein complexes 
• studying the behavior of cells and communities of cells 
• characterizing the molecular composition and microstructure of soils 
• developing a predictive understanding of biological and environmental systems through advanced data analytics, visualization, and computational modeling and simulation 

Our capabilities are organized into eight Integrated Research Platforms (IRPs), which are our expertise within EMSL's three science areas. The IRPs include: 

• Biomolecular Pathways
• Cell Signaling and Communication
• Structural Biology 
• Terrestrial-Atmospheric Processes
• Biogeochemical Transformations
• Rhizosphere Function
• Data Transformations
• Systems Modeling
• Autonomous Analysis and Discovery

EMSL science aligns with the research priorities of our sponsor, the Department of Energy Office of Science's Biological and Environmental Research program. Find examples of EMSL user projects on Science Central.

Explore our laboratories, hear from our experts, and learn more about our premier capabilities, by taking a virtual tour of EMSL.

Strategy and Operations

The EMSL 2021 Strategic Plan (updated January 2026) is a 5-year plan to accelerate the scientific discovery of biological and environmental processes across temporal and spatial scales. 

The EMSL Operations Manual (revision 13.0; June 1, 2026) is a general resource tool to assist laboratory staff and EMSL users with locating official EMSL policy, practice, guidance, and associated subject matter experts. 

EMSL expects staff, users, and visitors to follow the Code of Conduct expectations to provide a safe and healthy working environment. 

User and Project Statistics

In addition to tracking utilization and operating hours, the user services office provides quarterly data about active users and project statistics by proposal type. 

Data Management Resources and Release Policy

EMSL's Data Management policies provide information to help researchers understand the data resources and data management available at EMSL. This information can be used by researchers to meet data management requirements as they prepare funding proposals for other agencies. See the Department of Energy data policies. 

Advisory Committees

User Executive Committee

The User Executive Committee (UEC) provides advice and recommendations to EMSL's management team on matters affecting the EMSL User Organization (EMSLUO). The user organization includes investigators or participants of an approved user project in the current fiscal year, or in either of the two preceding fiscal years.

The UEC's responsibilities include:

• Providing recommendations about EMSL operating policies, operating hours for specific instruments, and needs for the facilities, infrastructure, and instrumentation.
• Recommending participants for proposal review panels.
• Annually assisting in planning activities for the EMSL User Meeting.
• Providing timely reports to users at the EMSL User Meeting and other times, if needed.
• Advising on other matters affecting EMSL, if requested by the EMSL director.
• Forming, as appropriate, ad hoc committees to assist EMSL management or users with any special needs. Ad hoc committee members include EMSLUO members.
• Meeting with the EMSL ombudsperson during the annual UEC meeting to discuss interactions between users and staff.

Read the UEC Charter for a full description of their purpose and responsibilities. Your comments, concerns, and suggestions about EMSL operations or science are welcome. See below for our list of UEC members and their contact information. To contact the UEC, send an email to emsl.uec@pnnl.gov.

Science and Technology Advisory Committee

The Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) provides guidance and counsel on EMSL's scientific objectives and strategy. Formed in January 2020, the STAC has 12 active members who meet annually to discuss strategy, scientific direction, and quality. In 2021, STAC began including an additional seat for a former User Executive Committee (UEC, see above) ex-officio member.

Read the STAC Charter for a full description of their purpose and responsibilities.

History

EMSL opened its doors on October 1, 1997, to provide fundamental science researchers a state-of-the-art facility with expertise in molecular-level chemistry, advanced computing resources, and world-class instrumentation. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program.

EMSL is dedicated in honor of Dr. William R. Wiley, former director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Wiley was the original advocate for the creation of a center that would bring together theoreticians with experience in computing modeling of molecular processes and researchers from the physical and life sciences.

To read more about EMSL's history visit our Wikipedia page.

User Agreements

Before conducting research with EMSL resources, users must have an Institutional User Agreement in place or another available, approved, legal instrument for agreement with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that includes the applicable terms and provisions for using EMSL. The type of agreement depends on the work being conducted, where the work is being done, and who is sponsoring the research. In addition to this institutional agreement, all users will be required to acknowledge the Terms and Conditions covered under the agreement. Review information about user agreements.  

User Statistics

EMSL serves an average of more than 700 users annually. Researchers become approved users after they are selected through a competitive proposal review process. Review EMSL user statistics.