Projects

As a scientific user facility, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) provides expertise, instrumentation, and resources to 250 projects each year.

EMSL projects displayed on the EMSL web site project page reflect project abstracts and information migrated to this page before April 30, 2024. To review current and past EMSL user projects, visit EMSL Science Central.™

Unraveling the biochemical and metabolic networks controlling bacterial cellulose biosynthesis

Lead Institution

University of Kentucky

Principal Investigator

Kendall Corbin

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Synthetic biology is a rapidly evolving field that uses novel engineering approaches to enhance the capabilities of organisms. Cellulose producing bacteria with commercial value, such as many in the…

Computational Mechanistic Studies of Methyl-coenzyme M Reductase Enzyme

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Bojana Ginovska

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after CO2, which accounts for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and it is by far the largest constituent of natural gas deposits. Methyl…

Identification of Individual Particle Chemical Composition, Morphology, and Ice Nucleation Properties in the Arctic

Lead Institution

University of Michigan

Principal Investigator

Kerri Pratt

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The proposed project will address critical gaps in our understanding of the Arctic aerosol chemical composition, mixing state, sources, and ice nucleation properties through chemical imaging and ice…

Mass-spectral 'fingerprinting' of technical and native lignin substrates for improved biological funneling and enzyme discovery

Lead Institution

University of British Columbia

Principal Investigator

Steven Hallam

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Lignin, composed of phenylpropanoid monomers connected by C-C and C-O-C (β-O-4 ether) bonds is the most energy dense polymer in lignocellulosic biomass and a potentially valuable source of aromatic…

Structural and functional dissection of a cell cycle chromatin switch in green algae

Lead Institution

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Principal Investigator

James Umen

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The long-term goal of this project is to understand the dynamic genetic programming which underlies cell growth and proliferation in green algae. This project addresses a long-standing enigma of how…

Characterization of the Aerobiome during ARM Surface-Atmosphere Integrated Laboratory (SAIL) Campaign

Lead Institution

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Maria Zawadowicz

Project type

FICUS Research

Atmospheric bioaerosols are bacteria, viruses, spores or pollen and their fragments suspended in ambient air, and they can have wide-reaching potential impacts on air quality, climate, and public…

Characterizing primary biological aerosol particles during TRACER

Lead Institution

University of Michigan

Principal Investigator

Allison Steiner

Project type

FICUS Research

Atmospheric organic aerosols represent a large fraction of the total aerosol in the atmosphere and can derive from primary sources emitted directly from natural or anthropogenic processes or be…

Metabolic exchange between Spartina alterniflora and sulfur chemosymbionts of the plant's root microbiome

Lead Institution

Georgia Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

Joel Kostka

Project type

FICUS Research

Vegetated coastal ecosystems are among the most intense carbon sinks in the biosphere, storing large amounts of carbon in their soils. Despite the fact that the root zone of coastal wetland plants…

Characterizing role of particle-water in processing of biomass burning emissions and SOA formation

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

ManishKumar Shrivastava

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed by multiphase chemical reactions in the atmosphere greatly contribute to fine particulate matter and organic aerosols (OA). Despite mounting evidence, aqueous-…

Influence of Adsorbed Organic Acids on Soil Mineral Wettability

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

John Loring

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Soil wettability is dictated by the extent to which hydrophilic mineral surfaces are covered by hydrophobic soil organic carbon (SOC) from bacterial decomposition, decaying plant matter, or root…

Understanding contributions of agricultural dust to vertical profiles of ice-nucleating particles in the central Great Plains

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Susannah Burrows

Project type

FICUS Research

Agricultural dusts contribute to airborne particulate amount, aerosol optical depth, and atmospheric ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentrations in agricultural regions. Agricultural dusts include…

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…

Waterborne Plastics Environmental Weathering Leachates

Lead Institution

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Benjamin Maurer

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Aquatic plastics pollution is anticipated to triple globally by 2040, and many of the effects of aquatic plastics and associated degradation products and contaminants are hitherto unknown. This…

Resolving carbon fluxes within microbial communities inhabiting full-scale bioenergy facilities

Lead Institution

University of British Columbia

Principal Investigator

Ryan Ziels

Project type

FICUS Research

Elucidating the physiology and metabolic function of uncultivated microorganisms in their in situ environment remains a critical challenge in microbial ecology. This knowledge gap obfuscates attempts…

Temporal Dynamics of Microbial Traits Driving Divergent Patterns of Carbon Flow During Surface Litter Decomposition

Lead Institution

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Marie Kroeger

Project type

FICUS Research

Microbially-driven surface litter decomposition is an important terrestrial ecosystem process creating soil organic carbon that serves as an essential carbon sink. Climate change projections show…

Plastic Degrading Microbial Communities from Insect Larvae Guts

Lead Institution

University of Delaware

Principal Investigator

Mark Blenner

Project type

FICUS Research

Insect microbial consortia are attractive platforms for plastics deconstruction and conversion as they degrade plastics more rapidly than microbial isolates and do not require pretreatment. While…

Resolving taxon-specific contributions to nutrient cycling in soil microbial communities through stable isotope enabled multi-omics

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Amy Zimmerman

Project type

FICUS Research

Mechanistic and predictive understanding of microbial nutrient cycling requires deconvoluting the outcomes of multiple population- and community-scale processes. Yet quantitative knowledge of…

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