Carolyn Pearce | Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Understanding the impact of interfacial radiolysis on the dynamics of mineral nanoparticle interactions

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Lili Liu

Project type

Contracted Time

The primary objective of this proposal is to advance our understanding of the dynamic processes that govern the aggregation of environmentally relevant nanoparticles, such as boehmite and gibbsite,…

Microbial diversity, complexity, and dynamics within a ‘grass-to-glass’ profile at a late iron age archaeological site, and as a function of climatic variables

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Carolyn Pearce

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

We propose to systematically analyze the microbial consortia that are enriched on rock surfaces as a function of depth through a ‘grass-to-glass’ profile using samples obtained during the excavation…

Investigating microbial interactions with glass and mineral surfaces: do microbes serve a protective or destructive role in long-term material durability within the biogeosphere?

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Andrew Plymale

Microbes are ubiquitous in the terrestrial surface and have mastered the art of establishing equilibrium in their localized environment. Samples obtained during an excavation of Broborg, an ancient…

Role of Microenvironments and Transition Zones in Field Scale Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

James McKinley

Project type

Limited Scope

This is a renewal proposal for a previous collaborative effort between the PNNL Scientific Focus Area (SFA) and EMSL. The research proposed will resolve critical Hanford and basic subsurface science…

Implications of U(IV)-silicate core-shell colloids for radionuclide transport

Lead Institution

University of Manchester

Principal Investigator

Samuel Shaw

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Here we will use a range of techniques to advance fundamental and predictive understanding of uranium colloids in the subsurface environment. Recent work has highlighted that U(IV)-silicate colloids…

The Role of Microenvironments and Physicochemical Subsurface Components on Field Scale Biogeochemistry and Contaminant Mobility

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

James McKinley

Project type

Exploratory Research

This is a renewal proposal for a previous collaborative effort between the PNNL Scientific Focus Area (SFA) and EMSL. The research proposed will resolve critical Hanford and basic subsurface science…

radAFM: Coupled radiation source/liquid-cell AFM to study radiation-induced interfacial processes

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Gregory Kimmel

Millions of liters of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW) stored in hundreds of tanks in the U.S. create a variety of environmental problems. To mitigate these problems, the wastes are intended to be…

Experimental Capabilities and Fundamental Science for Geologic Carbon Sequestration: The PNNL In Situ Supercritical Suite (IS3)

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

John Loring

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This Science Theme proposal requests EMSL access for investigators in the In Situ Supercritical Suite (IS3) component of PNNL's Carbon Sequestration Initiative (CSI). The CSI is a multi-million…

radAFM: Coupled radiation source/liquid-cell AFM to study radiation-induced interfacial processes

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Gregory Kimmel

Millions of liters of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW) stored in hundreds of tanks in the U.S. create a variety of environmental problems. To mitigate these problems, the wastes are intended to be…

Coupled Surface and Solid-State Charge and Ion Transport Dynamics at Mineral/Water Interfaces: Redox Transformation of the Iron Oxides

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kevin Rosso

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This EMSL user proposal requests a continuation of EMSL access for a BES Geosciences supported project led by Dr. Rosso at PNNL. The past three years of research under this BES project we have been…

Unraveling Redox Transformation Mechanisms of Ferrihydrite and Micronutrient Metal Incorporation at the Molecular Scale

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kevin Rosso

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Understanding aquatic chemistry, the natural cycling and fractionation of elements, and energy flow in soils almost always involves, by necessity, attention to the governing influence of electron…

Role of Microenvironments and Transition Zones in Subsurface Reactive Contaminant Transport

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

James McKinley

This is a renewal proposal for a previous collaborative effort between the PNNL Scientific Focus Area (SFA) and EMSL. The research proposed will resolve critical Hanford and basic subsurface science…

Unraveling chemical speciation and interfacial dynamics in complex, heterogeneous
environments to efficiently process high-level radioactive wastes

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jian-zhi Hu

We propose to use NMR in combination with computational modeling, to study the conversion of soluble tetrahedral aluminum (Al) species to octahedrally coordinated Al-bearing mineral precipitates…

Role of Microenvironments and Transition Zones in Subsurface Reactive Contaminant Transport

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

James McKinley

This is a renewal proposal for a previous collaborative effort between the PNNL Scientific Focus Area (SFA) and EMSL. The research proposed will resolve critical Hanford and basic subsurface science…

Limited Scope EMSL Proposal: Nano- and Microplastic Accumulation at Roots

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Markus Flury

Project type

Limited Scope

The purpose of this limited scope proposal is to conduct a series of confocal and super resolution fluorescence microscopy experiments in response to reviewers’ comments for a submitted manuscript…

Probing Particle Mediated Growth: Towards a Predictive Understanding of Self-Assembly for Energy Applications

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kevin Rosso

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This Science Theme proposal aims at developing a fundamental understanding of forces between nanoparticles in aqueous solution that underpin self-assembly of materials by oriented aggregation. This…

Past is Prologue: Ancient Glass Analogues for the Long-Term Disposal of Vitrified Nuclear Waste

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Carolyn Pearce

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Microbes are ubiquitous in the terrestrial surface and have mastered the art of establishing equilibrium in their localized environment. Samples obtained during an excavation of Broborg, an ancient…

Hydro-Biogeochemical Process Dynamics in the Groundwater-Surface Water Interaction Zone

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

John Zachara

This is a renewal proposal for a previous collaborative effort between the PNNL Scientific Focus Area (SFA) and EMSL.PNNL Scientific Focus Area. The PNNL SFA will develop a predictive understanding…

Fate and Transport of Nano- and Microplastic in Terrestrial Ecosystems

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Markus Flury

Project type

Exploratory Research

Nano- and microplastics are ubiquitous in many consumer products and released to the environment through rub-off or improperly disposed waste. Little is known about quantity, distribution, and fate…

Understanding surface species and interactions between adsorbed chloride and water on stored PuO2

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Carolyn Pearce

Project type

Special Science

Radiation induced degradation of chlorinated polymers, such as poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), used historically in packaging of plutonium oxide (PuO2), has led to chloride-contaminated PuO2, which…

Understanding Mechanisms Coupling the Fates of Iron Oxides, Organic Matter, and Micronutrient Metals at Redox Hot Spots

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kevin Rosso

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Iron (oxyhydr)oxide minerals are ubiquitous in soils and sediments and play an commanding role in nutrient cycling, microbial metabolism, carbon protection, and contaminant immobilization. Among them…

Proof-of-principle work using CeO2 as an analogue to understand surface species and interactions between adsorbed chloride and water on stored PuO2

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Carolyn Pearce

Project type

Limited Scope

Radiation induced degradation of chlorinated polymers, such as poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), used historically in packaging of plutonium oxide (PuO2), has led to chloride-contaminated PuO2, which…

Understanding the Effects of the Addition of Supplemental Inorganic Sequestering Materials to Inhibit the Release of Radionuclides from Cementitious Waste Forms with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Nikolla Qafoku

Immobilization in cementitious materials is a commonly employed method of remediation of low- and intermediate-level radioactive and hazardous species around the world. Indeed, the baseline method of…

Using Corroded Ancient Glasses as a Means to an Improved Understanding of the Long-term Chemical Reactivity of Glasses

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Joseph Ryan

EMSL resources are requested to enable an international team of collaborators to solve fundamental problems in interfacial glass corrosion chemistry. With the recent dismissal of Yucca Mountain as a…

Hydro-Biogeochemical Process Dynamics in the Groundwater-Surface Water Interaction Zone

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

John Zachara

This is a renewal proposal for a previous collaborative effort between the PNNL Scientific Focus Area (SFA) and EMSL.PNNL Scientific Focus Area. The PNNL SFA will develop a predictive understanding…

Advances in Understanding Electron Transfer Kinetics at Environmental Interfaces

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kevin Rosso

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This EMSL user proposal requests a continuation of EMSL access for a BER funded Environmental Molecular Sciences Institute (EMSI) project led by Dr. Rosso at PNNL. This project constitutes the PNNL…

The Transformation of Tetrahedral to Octahedral Coordination in Anions of Interest in High-Level Tank Waste

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jian-zhi Hu

Project type

Exploratory Research

We propose to use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Raman and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy in combination with computational modeling to study the conversion of soluble tetrahedral…

Role of Microenvironments and Transition Zones in Subsurface Reactive Contaminant Transport

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

James McKinley

Project type

Exploratory Research

The PNNL Scientific Focus Area (SFA) will resolve critical Hanford and basic subsurface science issues through integrated, multi-disciplinary, science-theme focused research on the role of…

Fate of Cosmetic Microbeads and Silver Nanoparticles in Soils

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Markus Flury

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Plastic microbeads and silver nanoparticles contained in cosmetic and health care products usually end up in our household waste water, which will then be treated in a waste water treatment plant…

Role of Microenvironments and Transition Zones in Field scale microbial ecology and biogeochemistry

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

James McKinley

Project type

Exploratory Research

This is a renewal proposal for a previous collaborative effort between the PNNL Scientific Focus Area (SFA) and EMSL. The research proposed will resolve critical Hanford and basic subsurface science…

The Transformation of Tetrahedral to Octahedral Coordination in Anions of Interest in High-Level Tank Waste

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jian-zhi Hu

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

We propose to use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Raman and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy in combination with computational modeling to study the conversion of soluble tetrahedral…

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