Projects

Wet Non-Aqueous Supercritical Fluid Interactions with Densified Model Rock Materials

Lead Institution

St. Mary's College of Maryland

Principal Investigator

Geoffrey Bowers

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Our research program investigates the fundamental molecular-scale dynamics, energetics, and reactivity of geochemically relevant solid-fluid interfaces by integrating experimental spectroscopy and…

Fluxomics-based elucidation of metabolic remodeling and optimization strategies for enhancing bioproduction efficiency in microbial factories under selection pressure

Lead Institution

University of Maryland, College Park

Principal Investigator

Daniel Dwyer

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Well characterized bacterial models such as Escherichia coli are ubiquitously used as microbial factories in the commercial production of biofuels and bioproducts. The increasingly optimized…

The persistence of soil organic carbon in the mineralosphere as a function of the soil microbiome, proteome, and exometabolome

Lead Institution

University of California, Berkeley

Principal Investigator

Mary Firestone

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Soils store more carbon (C) than the atmosphere and biosphere combined, yet the fundamental mechanisms that regulate the persistence of this vast pool of C remain elusive. Soil organic matter (SOM)…

Stabilization of organic carbon by complexation with iron colloids formed during biogeochemical weathering of basalt

Lead Institution

University of Arizona

Principal Investigator

Jon Chorover

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This project is part of a larger, multi-year effort to evaluate the development of spatial and temporal heterogeneity as a result of microbial colonization and biogeochemical weathering of granular…

Plant Stress in a Changing Environment: Using Plant Metabolomics to Improve Predictions of Biogenic Secondary Organic Aerosol Production

Lead Institution

University of California, Irvine

Principal Investigator

Celia Faiola

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This research addresses a critical barrier in our understanding of the processes controlling biogenic secondary organic aerosol formation (SOA), and how they are evolving in a changing environment…

Identifying the source of ice nucleating particles in biomass burning aerosol, and the effect of chemical aging and freeze-drying on their freezing properties

Lead Institution

Carnegie Mellon University

Principal Investigator

Ryan Sullivan

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The nanoscale surface features that create efficient ice active sites on atmospheric particles that control heterogeneous ice nucleation remain largely unknown. Cloud glaciation induced by these ice…

Heterogeneous catalysts design for biorefining and energy conversion processes

Lead Institution

University of South Carolina

Principal Investigator

Andreas Heyden

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The overall goal of this project is to develop, implement, and apply a set of computational, multiscale techniques for heterogeneous catalysts design with special emphasis on the EMSL theme, &quot…

Organic N Turnover in Soil: An Overlooked Component of C Cycling

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

David Myrold

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

It is now generally accepted that most of the organic matter in soils consists of materials that have been processed by the microbial community. Indeed, "necromass"--the remains of dead…

State-of-the-Art Computational Investigations of Environmentally Relevant Uranyl Peroxide Compounds and Nanoparticles

Lead Institution

University of Manchester

Principal Investigator

Nikolas Kaltsoyannis

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The linear dioxo U(VI) moiety [UO2]2+ (uranyl) is ubiquitous in the chemistry of uranium; indeed, approximately half the known compounds of uranium contain this moiety. A fascinating subset of these…

Towards a metabolic model of circadian clock control of metabolism in Neurospora crassa.

Lead Institution

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Hurley

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Biofuel production using cellulases extracted from fungi has the potential to be a major resource to replace fossil fuels and regulating the synthesis of these and other enzymes is crucial for the…

The proteome of a day in the life of Chlamydomonas

Lead Institution

University of California, Berkeley

Principal Investigator

Sabeeha Merchant

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Nearly all organisms exhibit diurnal metabolic cycles. In photosynthetic organisms, light is a key input into metabolic cycles. Transcriptomics experiments in cyanobacteria, algae and plants have…

Histone dynamics during the life cycle of Chlamydomonas

Lead Institution

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Principal Investigator

James Umen

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Diurnal cycles are central drivers of gene expression in photosynthetic organisms including cyanobacteria, algae and land plants. The model unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has…

Advanced Molecular Characterization of Solvo-Catalytic Lignin Disassembly

Lead Institution

Washington University in St. Louis

Principal Investigator

Marcus Foston

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Lignin obtained from lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant, renewable, low-cost resource whose carbon-rich, aromatic composition makes it ideal to displace some petroleum-based feedstocks as…

Understanding the Nucleation, Growth, and Immobilization of Metal Clusters Using First Principles Theoretical Calculations and Mass Spectrometry

Lead Institution

Virginia Commonwealth University

Principal Investigator

Jose Reveles Ramirez

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The properties of clusters vary substantially with the addition or removal of single atoms. This size-dependent behavior enables tuning of the activity and selectivity of cluster-based catalysts with…

Rational Design of Solid-Electrolyte Interfaces for Biofuel Production and Energy Storage

Lead Institution

Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Principal Investigator

Josep Poblet

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Structure-activity relationships determined from molecular-level investigation of mesoscale assemblies of well-defined clusters are critical to the rational development of improved devices for…

A Multiomics, Systems-Based Approach to Quantify the Response of Microbially-Mediated Carbon Turnover to Climate Change Manipulation in a Northern Peatland Forest

Lead Institution

Florida State University

Principal Investigator

Rachel Wilson

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Peatlands store 1/3 of all soil carbon (C) and currently act as net C sinks sequestering C as a complex mixture of organic compounds. The anoxic, water-logged, cool conditions of boreal peatlands…

Determining Protein Interactions Involving Essential Genes of Unknown Function

Lead Institution

University of Delaware

Principal Investigator

Mark Blenner

Project type

Exploratory Research

The DOE's goal of advancing biological and environmental research for the development of renewable and sustainable sources of biofuels and bio-based chemicals from biomass relies on our ability…

Protemic Analysis of Naturally Ocurring Methane Oxidizing Archaeal Communities

Lead Institution

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

Edward DeLong

Project type

Exploratory Research

Microbial mediated anaerobic methane oxidation (AOM) in marine sediments represents a significant but poorly understood carbon sink throughout the world's oceans. Mounting geochemical and…

The composition, transport, and fate of soil organic matter and pyrogenic carbon after prescribed burning

Lead Institution

University of Georgia

Principal Investigator

Rebecca Abney

Project type

Exploratory Research

Prescribed burning has exponentially increased in the United States over the past five years due to growing research into its use for land management and recent changes in legislation. While the…

Synthesis and Characterization at Atomic Level of Novel Nanocrystalline Metal Oxide Structures

Lead Institution

Nanjing Normal University

Principal Investigator

Zhongqing Yu

Project type

Exploratory Research

This project will focus on two objectives: 1) controllable formation of cooper oxide (Cu2O) quantum dots (QD) using oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (OPA MBE); 2) analysis of grown…