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.™

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…

High-Field Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Technique for Probing the Cellular Structure of Polysaccharides and Lignin in Plants

Lead Institution

Michigan State University

Principal Investigator

Tuo Wang

Project type

Exploratory Research

The NMR Facility at EMSL is going to house the first commercial high-field (800 MHz/527 GHz) Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) system in the United States. This state-of-art instrument will allow us…

Evaluating viral activity and infection dynamics during wet-up of dry grassland soils

Lead Institution

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator

Joanne Emerson

Project type

Exploratory Research

After months of dryness, the first heavy rainfall in Mediterranean climates drives a predictable pulse of CO2 emissions and soil microbial activity each year. Responsive microbial populations begin…

Controls on the Composition of Persistent Microbial-derived Organic Matter in Soil

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kirsten Hofmockel

Project type

Exploratory Research

Current estimates suggest that soils contain 1.5 x 10^12 tons of carbon, or roughly three times more carbon than the atmosphere, and represent a giant reservoir for potential greenhouse gas emission…

Elucidating aromatic catabolic pathways in white-rot fungi

Lead Institution

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Davinia Salvachua Rodriguez

Project type

Exploratory Research

Lignin is a heterogeneous aromatic polymer found in the cell walls of terrestrial plants and accounts for 30% of the organic carbon in the biosphere. White-rot fungi (WRF) are unquestionably the most…

Phosphorus and Carbon Cycling Directed by Spatial Plasticity in Root Exudation

Lead Institution

Michigan State University

Principal Investigator

James Moran

Project type

Exploratory Research

Plant root exudates provide a significant carbon (C) source for rhizosphere microbial communities. In return, these communities help mobilize nutrients needed for plant growth. For instance,…

Lithologic controls on rock-derived nutrient cycling and soil organic carbon storage in perhumid temperate coastal rainforest

Lead Institution

University of Nebraska Omaha

Principal Investigator

Ashlee Dere

Project type

Exploratory Research

Mineral weathering is an important supplier of plant essential nutrients and influences soil carbon sequestration yet the drivers and rates of mineral transformation and soil formation are still…

Proteomics of Membrane Protein Complexes

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Diana Bigelow

Project type

Exploratory Research

A comprehensive understanding of the effects of cellular stress on calcium signaling requires correlated measurements of intracellular calcium transients and global proteomic analysis of both calcium…

Computational study of protein-protein interaction dynamics

Lead Institution

State University of New York at Stony Brook

Principal Investigator

Jin Wang

Project type

Exploratory Research

Protein-protein interactions are extremely important and complex in living cells. Studying the dynamical processes of protein-protein interactions is crucial for uncovering the fundamental…

Development of a Soldier-Portable Power System

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Daniel Palo

Project type

Exploratory Research

Ongoing work in support of a joint Army/Navy funded project to develop a hydrocarbon-fueled fuel cell power system. Work includes catalyst development, device fabrication and demonstration, and…

SEM Characterization of Proposed Hydrogen Storage Materials

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Larry Thomas

Project type

Exploratory Research

The Leo 982 field-emission SEM at EMSL will be used for microscopic and elemental characterization of sodium-aluminate alanate or similar material being studied for as a hydrogen storage medium. An…

XPS analysis of fuel cell components

Lead Institution

Qatar Foundation

Principal Investigator

Larry Pederson

Project type

Exploratory Research

Request use of Quantum 2000 (Mark Engelhard) to examine some fuel cell separator plates. I am interested in compositional changes as well as gradients in oxidation states of some transition metal…

XPS analysis of fuel cell components

Lead Institution

Qatar Foundation

Principal Investigator

Larry Pederson

Project type

Exploratory Research

Request use of Quantum 2000 (Mark Engelhard) to examine some fuel cell separator plates. I am interested in compositional changes as well as gradients in oxidation states of some transition metal…

Investigation of elemental contamination in solid oxide fuel cell materials.

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Vincent Sprenkle

Project type

Exploratory Research

Goal of this work is to investigate the role of contaminants in fuel cell materials through high resolution XPS. This fuel cell development program is part of the DOE-FE Solid State Energy…

Investigation of the stability of secondary precipitates incorporated with contaminants

Lead Institution

Pohang University of Science & Technology

Principal Investigator

Wooyong Um

Project type

Exploratory Research

Goals The principal goal of the proposed work is to assess the molecular nature and stability of radionuclide (133Cs, 90Sr, and 129I) immobilized during formation of secondary precipitates at the…

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