Projects

Microbial controls on biogeochemical cycling in deep subsurface shale carbon reservoirs

Lead Institution

Colorado State University

Principal Investigator

Kelly Wrighton

Project type

FICUS Research

Terrestrial deep shales and their interfaces are carbon-rich environments that represent a significant component of the U.S. energy portfolio. Energy resources in these environments have recently…

Decoding DOM degradation: how does carbon source and sunlight exposure alter microbial metabolism and expression of genome-encoded metabolic degradation of permafrost organic matter?

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Byron Crump

Project type

FICUS Research

Climate change in the Arctic is progressing rapidly, thawing large areas of permafrost that contain nearly half of the world's soil organic carbon. Conversion of this carbon pool to greenhouse…

Sensing External Metals by Outer Membrane Beta-Barrel Proteins

Lead Institution

Georgia Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

Thomas DiChristina

Project type

FICUS Research

Metal-reducing bacteria drive a variety of environmentally important processes, including the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and metals, the bioremediation of radionuclides and organohalides, and…

Elucidating the Influences of Engineered N-glycosylation Motifs in Bacterial Biomass Hydrolyzing Enzymes upon Heterologous and Native Gene Expression, Secretion and Degradation in Aspergillus niger

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jon Magnuson

Project type

FICUS Research

Aspergillus niger is a genetically tractable model organism for scientific discovery and a platform organism used in industry for the production of enzymes for biomass degradation and other…

Structure and Dynamics of Ions and Fluids at Organo-Mineral-Fluid Interfaces

Lead Institution

St. Mary's College of Maryland

Principal Investigator

Geoffrey Bowers

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Our research program strives to provide new insight into the fundamental molecular-scale dynamics, energetics, and reactivity of geochemically relevant solid-fluid interfaces through combined…

Fundamental Studies of Ice Nucleation Using Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM)

Lead Institution

Purdue University

Principal Investigator

Alexander Laskin

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The proposed research is to demonstrate applicability of a novel experimental platform for systematic studies of ice nucleation efficiency of atmospheric particles with determination of…

Probing Particle Mediated Growth: Towards a Predictive Understanding of Self-Assembly for Energy Applications

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kevin Rosso

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This Science Theme proposal aims at developing a fundamental understanding of forces between nanoparticles in aqueous solution that underpin self-assembly of materials by oriented aggregation. This…

Molecular composition and phase characteristics of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) relevant to the FIX2014 and SOAS2013 campaigns

Lead Institution

California Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

John Seinfeld

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Secondary organic aerosols (SOA) can be a large component of the troposphere, potentially altering visibility, human health, atmospheric chemistry, and climate patterns on a regional scale. The…

Bioinspired Homogeneous and Surface-confined Catalysts for Energy Storage and Production Reactions

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Molly O'Hagan

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Three related research programs at PNNL focus on developing bioinspired electrocatalysts for energy storage, energy production, or carbon fixation reactions such as the production and oxidation of…

Cooperative Interactions of Marine Macromolecules at the Air-Water Interface

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Philip Rasch

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Sea spray aerosol (SSA) particles formed from bubbles bursting at the ocean surface contain a large fraction of organic matter. The presence of this organic matter is driven by the adsorption of…

Comprehensive chemical composition of Arctic aerosols and formation mechanisms of organosulfates investigated by highly advanced techniques

Lead Institution

Aarhus University

Principal Investigator

Marianne Glasius

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The fundamental insufficiency of scientific knowledge on the sources, formation and properties of aerosols, especially the organic aerosol fraction, hampers our knowledge of the climate system of the…

Understanding Water Splitting on Model Mixed Metal Oxide Photocatalysts

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Michael Henderson

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

There is a need for new fundamental insights into photocatalytic water splitting particularly how to design catalyst systems that extend the catalytic and photocatalytic functionalities of simple…

Multi-scale investigation of the nitrogen fixation mechanism of Mo-dependent nitrogenase

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Simone Raugei

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

We propose to use EMSL NMR and supercomputing resources to gain a molecular level understanding of how substrate binding, electron, and proton delivery is controlled by the nitrogenase metalloenzyme…

Insights into peatland carbon cycling derived from integration of Omics with biogeochemical profiling

Lead Institution

Michigan Technological University

Principal Investigator

Evan Kane

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Peatlands are one of the most important ecosystems providing feedbacks to the climate system because they store a large component (>30%) of the world's soil C stocks. Peatlands also are found…

Characterization of the Local Structure and Chemistry of 99Tc in Simulated Nuclear Waste Glasses and its Effect on Chemical Leaching

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

John McCloy

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

A priority goal of the United States Department of Energy is to dispose of nuclear wastes accumulated in underground tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Richland, WA. Incorporation and…

Designing Fuel Cell Catalysts at the Molecular Scale with Ion Soft Landing and Spray Ionization

Lead Institution

Purdue University

Principal Investigator

Robert Cooks

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Structure-reactivity relationships that are derived from molecular-level investigation of the properties of well-defined supported nanoparticles (NPs) are critical to the rational development of…

Understanding the Synthesis of Alumina Supported Metal Catalysts at an Atomic Level

Lead Institution

Georgia Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

Carsten Sievers

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Despite the important role of supported metal catalysts in industrial processes there are significant gaps in our understanding of the atomic level transformations during their synthesis, in…

Soybean Proteomics

Lead Institution

University of Missouri - Columbia

Principal Investigator

Gary Stacey

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The USA is one of the world's largest producers of soybean (Glycine max), which is important as a source of animal feed, oil and, more recently, for biodiesel production. In recognition of this…

Elucidating the role of fine roots in transferring reduced C into soil using a combination of transcriptomics and 13C analyses of tissue from the Duke FACE experiment

Lead Institution

College of Charleston

Principal Investigator

Seth Pritchard

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Fine root turnover has been estimated to consume from 5 to >50% of forest productivity. The large range of uncertainty in these measurements is a consequence of a lack of understanding of what…

Molecular Profiling of Membrane Transport Systems in the Ectomycorrhizal Association

Lead Institution

Argonne National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Frank Collart

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Forest ecosystem productivity is often limited by mineral nutrient availability; phosphorus (P) is one of the major mineral nutrients required by forest trees in significant amounts. To overcome P…