Projects

Acquiring highly resolved root images of a cereal introgression line with enhanced root growth, and performance under low nitrogen stress by X-ray Computed Tomography

Lead Institution

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator

Diane Beckles

Project type

Exploratory Research

The aim of this work is to obtain unambiguous data on the root specific architecture of a wheat introgression line 99 that has greater below ground biomass, and outperforms the cultivated parental…

Novel X-ray Interferometry Imaging of Plant Root Systems

Lead Institution

Louisiana State University

Principal Investigator

Joyoni Dey

Project type

Exploratory Research

Plants have mechanisms to overcome abiotic and biotic stresses. One of the main plant parts to adjust to available resources for growth are roots. Observing the changes in distribution of roots (RSA)…

Exploring oxalate metabolism and C transfer in bacterial-fungal interactions in the context of a soil carbon-storing biogeochemical process

Lead Institution

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Patrick Chain

Project type

Exploratory Research

Bacterial-fungal interactions (BFI) in the rhizosphere impart a myriad of beneficial functions to plant and soil health as well as play important roles in biogeochemical cycling in soils. However,…

Vertical distribution of Phase State of Aerosol Particles at the Southern Great Plains

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Fan Mei

Project type

Exploratory Research

Organic aerosol particles contribute significantly to the total atmospheric fine particle mass. Depending on the nature of particles (e.g., source, chemical composition) and environmental factors (e…

Microbial control of mineral-bound carbon

Lead Institution

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Marie Kroeger

Project type

Exploratory Research

The formation of organo-mineral complexes, particularly in the deep soil horizons is a key process in the long-term stabilization and therefore persistence of carbon in soils. However, there is…

Understanding Carbon Use Efficiency in Soil Ecosystems Using Metabolomics, Lipidomics, Protein Digests and Metabolic Modeling

Lead Institution

Northern Arizona University

Principal Investigator

Paul Dijkstra

Project type

Exploratory Research

The efficiency with which organic compounds are used to produce microbial biomass is an important variable in modeling soil C cycling. This efficiency, called C use efficiency or CUE, is often…

Chemical nano-imaging of ice nucleating particles for understanding heterogeneous ice formation in atmospheric clouds

Lead Institution

Colgate University

Principal Investigator

Eric Muller

Project type

Exploratory Research

Ice nucleation in atmospheric clouds can determine the phase of water in the clouds and affect the radiative properties, lifetime and precipitation behavior. While pure water droplets can remain…

Microbial nitrogen use efficiencies and their molecular controls in carbon sequestering soils

Lead Institution

United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service

Principal Investigator

Amisha Poret-Peterson

Project type

Exploratory Research

Present-day agriculture faces a major challenge to sustain food production in the face of a changing climate while mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. One way to rise to this challenge is to…

Unraveling the Interplay of Wetland Root Strength and Ecogeomorphology

Lead Institution

Louisiana State University

Principal Investigator

Navid Jafari

Project type

Exploratory Research

Critical gaps persist in understanding how coastal wetlands perform against storm surge and wave forcings, how these systems evolve over space and time (particularly in the face of sea level rise and…

Impact of Organic-Inorganic Interactions on Pore Networks and Fluid Transport

Lead Institution

St. Mary's College of Maryland

Principal Investigator

Geoffrey Bowers

Project type

Exploratory Research

The proposed work takes advantage of unique EMSL capabilities to study how organic molecules chemically tethered to pore surfaces impact the pore sizes, pore connectivity, and dynamics of sorbed…

Engineering (electro)mixotrophy: production of bio-benign polymers from CO2-derived carbon feedstocks

Lead Institution

San Diego State University

Principal Investigator

Marina Kalyuzhnaya

Project type

Exploratory Research

Plastics are an inevitable part of our everyday life. However, petroleum-based polymers come with a high environmental cost. Faced with climate change and environmental pollution, the need for bio…

Determining how metabolic regulation can improve biofuel and bioproduct accumulation

Lead Institution

University of California, Berkeley

Principal Investigator

Melissa Roth

Project type

Exploratory Research

Photosynthetic organisms are promising sustainable sources of biofuels and bioproducts to help meet growing global needs. Microalgae utilize solar energy, consume CO2, can be cultivated on non-arable…

Disentangling the role of microbial interactions and spatial structure in soil organic matter decomposition

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Ryan McClure

Project type

Exploratory Research

The study of the soil microbiome is critical to understanding the ecological functions carried out by soil microorganisms, particularly with respect to the cycling of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N)…

Capturing the influence of ocean biology on aerosol collected in the remote region of the eastern north Atlantic

Lead Institution

State University of New York at Stony Brook

Principal Investigator

Josephine Aller

Project type

Exploratory Research

Cloud lifetime and optical properties, as well as precipitation, depend heavily on aerosol size, concentration, and chemical properties. Oceans which cover 71% of the Earth's surface are a major…

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…

Sulfur absorbents for emission control

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Liyu Li

Project type

Exploratory Research

The objective of this research is to develop basic understandings for high capacity sulfur absorbents for emission control/

XRD Analysis of Mineral Sample

Lead Institution

Columbia Gem & Jewelry

Principal Investigator

Vincent Rundhaug

Project type

Exploratory Research

A mineral sample from a mining operation initially assayed with exceptional quantities of the platinum metals group. Some samples exhibit some type of surface vapor deposition. Requesting XRD for…

Biogeochemical Heterogeneity in the Subsurface (Long, PNNL scope #16259)

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Tom Resch

Project type

Exploratory Research

I need the ion chromatograph for analysis of the injection and calibration solutions for a field bioremediation experiment taking place in Rifle, CO. The injection samples were from the acetate…

Intermediate Flow Cells (PNNL SCOPE #28662)

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Tom Resch

Project type

Exploratory Research

I need the ion chromatograph for analysis of solutions of an intermediate-scale flow cell bio-stimulation experiment. The experiment used porous sand media with lenticular shaped inclusions of…

The synthesis of Au nanoclusters

Lead Institution

Washington State University Tri-Cities

Principal Investigator

Hai-Feng Zhang

Project type

Exploratory Research

The synthesis of the Au clusters with varieties of ligand attracted great attentions from chemist and materials scientist in decades. The discovery of the Au catalyst stimulated a great deal of…