Projects | Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Biogeochemical controls on dissolved organic carbon production and degradation in tidal marshes

Lead Institution

College of William and Mary

Principal Investigator

Bongkeun Song

Project type

MONet

The overarching objective of our ongoing research is to determine environmental (biotic and abiotic) controls on organic matter (OM) production and decomposition in tidal marsh soils along an…

Midgley MONet Request

Lead Institution

The Morton Arboretum

Principal Investigator

Meghan Midgley

Project type

MONet

Using a series of mature, mono-specific forestry plots, our collaborative team here at The Morton Arboretum together with our partners outside the Arboretum are addressing interdisciplinary questions…

Soil Function Across Variably Inundated Environments - Tidal Systems

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Peter Regier

Project type

MONet

We aim to generate knowledge, data, and models that are transferable across Earth’s variably inundated ecosystems. We are focused on the integrated hydro-biogeochemistry of soils in these diverse…

NEON Contract FY24

Lead Institution

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Sarah Leichty

Project type

MONet

MONet has an ILA in place to obtain the services of BCO who operates the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) for a soil sampling effort of terrestrial field sites. BCO will obtain soil…

MONet Test Samples for Analytics

Lead Institution

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Sarah Leichty

Project type

MONet

A key aspect of MONet is incorporating biogeochemical and microbial process data streams to facilitate parameterization of key variables of multiscale models with eventual coupling to larger-scale…

Vertical Distribution of Aerosol Properties during TRACER

Lead Institution

Washington University in St. Louis

Principal Investigator

Rajan Chakrabarty

Project type

FICUS Research

This project will provide the vertical distribution of physico-chemical properties of individual atmospheric particles collected by ARM’s tethered balloon system (TBS) as part of the TRACER campaign…

Opening the black box of glacial carbon cycling–providing fundamental insight into impacts of a changing climate

Lead Institution

Montana State University

Principal Investigator

Heidi Smith

Project type

FICUS Research

The cycling of carbon on Earth influences atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and is therefore fundamentally tied to climate over long time periods. Roughly 104 petagrams of organic carbon (OC)…

A high-resolution view of the plant–microbe–mineral interactions affecting C-cycling in thawed permafrost soils

Lead Institution

University of New Hampshire

Principal Investigator

Jessica Ernakovich

Project type

FICUS Research

Arctic permafrost soils store approximately one third of the world’s soil carbon, a stock equal to the Earth’s atmosphere. Warming and drying projected over this century will make this vast soil…

Linking biotic drivers of soil structure to solute flows through soil profiles

Lead Institution

University of Kansas

Principal Investigator

Sharon Billings

Project type

MONet

Recent work highlights the powerful role that biota (here, roots and the microbes that surround them) play in governing soil structure over timescales much shorter than previously assumed. If robust…

Characterization of Organosulfates and Organonitrates in Vertically-Resolved Aerosols over the Southern Great Plains

Lead Institution

University of California, Riverside

Principal Investigator

Haofei Zhang

Project type

FICUS Research

Aerosol processes and interactions with cloud play an important role in the climate system and radiative budget; they are the largest individual source of uncertainty in assessing the Earth’s…

Expanding synthetic biology tools by deeper understanding of Aspergillus niger primary metabolism

Lead Institution

Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute

Principal Investigator

Ronald de Vries

Project type

FICUS Research

Fungal primary carbon metabolism consists of many connected pathways to convert monosaccharides and other monomeric carbon sources. While many of the pathways have been described as single enzyme per…

(Eco)Physiology of methanogens of the phylum Thermoproteota

Lead Institution

Montana State University

Principal Investigator

Roland Hatzenpichler

Project type

FICUS Research

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and its atmospheric levels contribute to regulating Earth’s climate. The majority of biological methane is generated in anoxic environments by methanogenic archaea…

Linking multi-organism-environment interactions across lab and field scales to estimate viral contributions to soil C cycling

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Amy Zimmerman

Project type

FICUS Research

Interactions between soil viruses and their microbial hosts can significantly impact microbial population dynamics, metabolism, and evolution, with cascading effects on soil carbon (C)…

Multiscale multimodal analysis of brown rot fungal decay mechanisms for improved biomimetic lignocellulosic biorefinery processes

Lead Institution

United States Department of Agriculture - Forest Service

Principal Investigator

Joseph Jakes

Project type

FICUS Research

An improved understanding of non-enzymatic brown-rot decay mechanisms in lignocellulosics, such as wood, could inspire improved biomimetic biorefinery processes to elevate lignocellulosic materials…

Functional and structural analysis of microbial expansin-related proteins that
loosen lignocellulosic and chitin fiber networks

Lead Institution

University of Toronto

Principal Investigator

Emma Master

Project type

FICUS Research

This project brings together functional genomics, structural biology, and advanced techniques in material science, to evaluate the untapped potential of microbial expansin-related proteins in the…

The role of microbial predation and cooperation on soil carbon pathways measured through multi-omics

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Bram WG Stone

Project type

FICUS Research

Soil microorganisms drive the decomposition of terrestrial carbon, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere and retaining additional pools belowground. Thus, a critical parameter in climate modeling efforts…

Structural and biochemical characterization of glycosyltransferase 47 family proteins from Spirodela to enable predictive biology

Lead Institution

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Samantha Ziegler

Project type

FICUS Research

Complex carbohydrates comprise the majority of plant biomass and are assembled by large families of glycosyltransferases (GTs) that transfer sugars from activated donors to a wide range of acceptor…

Systems Analysis of Embolism Resiliency in Grasses for Biofuel Production Under Marginal Environments

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Andrii Smertenko

Project type

FICUS Research

Production of grass lignocellulosic biomass for biorefining can be significantly diminished by periods of acute high temperature known as heat waves. High temperature disrupts folding of proteins…

Integrating microbial meta-omics, isotopes and methane metabolites to connect belowground microbial processes to aboveground methane emissions in seasonally-inundated Amazonian floodplain forests

Lead Institution

University of Arizona

Principal Investigator

Scott Saleska

Project type

FICUS Research

The seasonally inundated floodplain forests of the Amazon River and its tributaries are iconic examples of ecosystems at the terrestrial-aquatic interface that are dominated by hydro…

Baggs MONet Request: The effects of agricultural nitrogen fertilization regimes on soil geochemistry

Lead Institution

Sound Agriculture

Principal Investigator

Erin Baggs

Project type

MONet

Agriculture impacts the environment through several biogeochemical cycles that are relevant at local to global scales. To efficiently obtain high yielding harvests farmers are required to use…