Projects

Computer Programming of Data Acquisition Board for Single Particle Laser Ablation Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometer (SPLAT-MS)

Lead Institution

State University of New York at Stony Brook

Principal Investigator

Sachin Jambawalikar

Project type

Exploratory Research

SPLAT-MS was designed and built for real-time detection and characterization of individual aerosol particles. It has wide, practical applications in many important areas of research, such as…

Collaborative Access Team: the Pooled Resources for Electron Microscopy Informatics, Education and Research (PREMIER) Network

Lead Institution

University of Liverpool

Principal Investigator

Nigel Browning

Project type

Exploratory Research

The executive committee of the Pooled Resources for Electron Microscopy Informatics, Education and Research (PREMIER) network is proposing to form a collaborative access team (CAT) to optimize…

Microbial Adaptation in Response to Environmental Stress in Polluted Groundwater Aquifers

Lead Institution

University of Texas at Austin

Principal Investigator

Charles Werth

Project type

Exploratory Research

Steep gradients in chemical concentration, redox potential, pH, and temperature are common in the environment. They are often "hotspots" of microbial activity and diversity. For example,…

Optimization of Bio-Nano Interfaces for Bioenergy Harvesting and Biosensing Applications using Computational Studies

Lead Institution

University of New Mexico

Principal Investigator

Ivana Gonzales

Project type

Exploratory Research

The goal of this proposal is to determine details of the electrochemical processes at the enzyme-support interface when pyrroloquinoline quinone dependent enzymes are used as biocatalysts in bio…

Structural Studies of Bioinspired Chromophore Aggregates: Exploring the Design Rules for Light-Harvesting Complexes

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Jeanne McHale

Project type

Exploratory Research

The proposed work will reveal the design principles that determine the light-harvesting and energy transfer efficiency of supramolecular antenna complexes. Such complexes in Nature are optimized to…

Identifying the Underlying Mechanism of G5 Domain Interactions

Lead Institution

University of Colorado at Denver

Principal Investigator

Elan Eisenmesser

Project type

Exploratory Research

Despite the remarkable success in employing biofilms for a wide range of applications such as the industrial treatment of wastewater and the potential for utilizing biofilms for biofules, exactly how…

The Interfacial Electronic Structure and Carrier Dynamics at Molecule-Solid Interface

Lead Institution

University of Pittsburgh

Principal Investigator

Hrvoje Petek

Project type

Exploratory Research

We propose to study the electronic structure and electron dynamics at molecule/solid-surface interfaces in the context of clean energy generation, and green house gas capture. The theoretical…

Quantifying the Reactive Surface Area of Environmental Materials - Continued Research

Lead Institution

University of Texas at El Paso

Principal Investigator

James Kubicki

Project type

Exploratory Research

The accurate prediction of critical environmental chemical processes such as attenuation and transformation of contaminants, mobility of nutrients, and mineral dissolution and precipitation requires…

In situ Solid-State NMR Study of Biomass Conversion in Porous Catalysts

Lead Institution

University of California, Santa Barbara

Principal Investigator

Susannah Scott

Project type

Exploratory Research

Biomass represents a renewable and potentially carbon-neutral alternative to fossil fuels for the production of carbon-based chemicals and fuels. Although efficient heterogeneous catalysis is vital…

High Resolution Electron Microscopy Study of Chlorinated gamma-Al2O3

Lead Institution

University of California, Santa Barbara

Principal Investigator

Susannah Scott

Project type

Exploratory Research

Chlorination profoundly alters the surface chemistry of gamma-alumina, and consequently its catalytic properties. Such materials are of high interest in energy conversion, notably hydrocarbon…

Towards Complete Characterization of Volatile and Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds of Relevance for Atmospheric Aerosol Formation

Lead Institution

University of California, Riverside

Principal Investigator

Kelley Barsanti

Project type

Exploratory Research

Atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has long been linked to deleterious health effects and to radiative climate forcing. A significant mass fraction of PM2.5 is composed of organic compounds…

Emergent Behavior of Micro-structured Surfaces

Lead Institution

San Diego State University

Principal Investigator

Ilenia Battiato

Project type

Exploratory Research

Surfaces with microscale topological features are ubiquitous in nature and they constitute the physical boundaries that regulate and control energy and mass fluxes between adjacent systems. The…

Bacterial-Algal Synergism Improves Algal Biomass Production

Lead Institution

University of Washington

Principal Investigator

Rose Ann Cattolico

Project type

Exploratory Research

Background: In the proposed work we will use a newly developed experimental system comprised of the alga Chrysochromulina tobin (Haptophyceae) and a bacterial microbiome of limited number (~10…

Systems Biology of the Rumen Microbiome: Towards a Multi-Scalar Understanding of Biomass Degradation

Lead Institution

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator

Matthias Hess

Project type

Exploratory Research

We have shown recently that the composition of the microbial community in the cow rumen is substrate driven, changes its composition during biomass-degradation and that it possesses a large…

Microbial Carbon Transformations in Wet Tropical Soils: The Effects of Warming, Drying, and Redox Fluctuation

Lead Institution

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Pett-Ridge

Project type

Exploratory Research

Tropical forest soils store more carbon (C) --as plant litter and decomposed organic matter-- than any other terrestrial ecosystem and play a critical role in the production of greenhouse gases …

Identification of Mercury-Reactive Species in Natural Organic Matter

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Baohua Gu

Project type

Exploratory Research

This study aims to utilize the state-of-the-art Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometers (FTICR-MS) to identify the specific molecules in naturally dissolved organic matter (DOM)…

Chemical Characteristics of Sediment Associated Organic Matter

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Peter Nico

Project type

Exploratory Research

The goals of our proposed EMSL research are to develop methods for characterizing natural organic matter (NOM) that is associated with subsurface sediment using unique EMSL capabilities in FTICR MS,…

Experimental studies of supercritical CO2 dissolution and its influence on drainage and imbibition using pore-scale micromodels

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Quanlin Zhou

Project type

Exploratory Research

The characteristics of two-phase flow of supercritical CO2 (scCO2) injected into deep saline aquifers and brine (e.g., relative permeability and residual saturation) and scCO2 dissolution are of…

Functional Components of Plant Resistance to Fungi

Lead Institution

Rice University

Principal Investigator

Janet Braam

Project type

Exploratory Research

Recent research has led to new insights into the importance of spatial aspects of jasmonate-mediated plant defense and fungal resistance, including organ-specific resistance as a gate-keeper for…

Impact of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid upon biofilm development, Fe speciation, and the fate of microbial biomass in the rhizosphere of dryland and irrigated wheat

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Matthew Marshall

Project type

Exploratory Research

Rhizobacterial biofilms are a major sink for plant-derived carbon, and a major source for microbially-derived soil organic matter (SOM). Bacteria residing within biofilm matrices, which restrict…