Projects

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…

Investigation of mycogenic elemental selenium nanoparticles produced by Se(IV/VI)-reducing fungi under anoxic conditions

Lead Institution

University of Minnesota

Principal Investigator

Cara Santelli

Project type

Exploratory Research

Selenium (Se) is both a micronutrient required for most life and an element of environmental concern due to its toxicity at high concentrations. Selenium can exist as volatile, aqueous, or insoluble…

Unraveling Mechanisms of Complex Associations of Organic Carbon with Iron Oxide Minerals during Redox Transformations

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kevin Rosso

Project type

Exploratory Research

Fe(III)-oxide nanominerals are ubiquitous primary sorbents of organic carbon, organic acid exudates, and toxic metals in terrestrial, aquatic, and subsurface ecosystems. In soil ecosystems,…

Mapping the Organic-Mineral Interactions Responsible for Calcification in a Biogeochemically Significant Microbe

Lead Institution

University of Washington

Principal Investigator

Alexander Gagnon

Project type

Exploratory Research

The pace of skeletal growth in shells and bones is impacted by interactions between biologically produced organic compounds and the growing mineral. The organic component within biominerals is small,…

Chemical reactivity at complex solid/liquid interfaces for environmental and energy processes

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Malsoon Lee

Project type

Exploratory Research

Modeling of the selective electrochemical hydrogenation for upgraded bio-oil at complex solid/liquid interface is important for a fundamental understanding and prediction of elctrocatalytic…

Computational Models and Methods for Describing Biogeochemical Transformations of Mercury

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jerry Parks

Project type

Exploratory Research

The objectives of this proposal are to develop realistic, environmentally relevant models of Hg-containing systems, investigate key mechanisms of Hg transformations that are important to global Hg…

Tracking switchgrass photosynthate via 13CO2 pulse-chase into the rhizosphere microbiome and metabolome

Lead Institution

Michigan State University

Principal Investigator

Lisa Tiemann

Project type

FICUS Research

This project aims to increase our understanding of plant-microbe interactions, specifically the exchange of plant C for microbially derived nitrogen. Plant exudates are a high energy foods for…

Combining high resolution organic matter characterization and microbial meta-omics to assess the effects of nutrient loading on salt marsh carbon sequestration

Lead Institution

Northeastern University

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Bowen

Project type

FICUS Research

Salt marshes sequester an order of magnitude more carbon in their sediments than their terrestrial counterparts because rates of decomposition are inhibited by anoxic, water-logged soils. Once easily…

Scaling molecular mechanisms of mycorrhizal-decomposer interactions to emergent ecosystem carbon balance

Lead Institution

Boston University

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Bhatnagar

Project type

FICUS Research

Emerging evidence from field experiments and global scale analyses suggests that ectomycorrhizal fungi may slow soil carbon (C) cycling via negative interactions with free-living microbial…

The synchronization of microbial and plant phenology in a mountainous watershed and its importance for nutrient retention under changing hydrologic regimes.

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Eoin Brodie

Project type

FICUS Research

In mountainous systems that experience seasonal snow-cover, the snowmelt period is characterized by a large pulse of nutrients that originates from microbial mineralization of organic matter beneath…

Linking Proteogenomics, Metabolomics, and Soil Organic Chemistry of Tropical Wetlands to a Soil Nutrient Cycling Model

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Melanie Mayes

Project type

FICUS Research

Our goal is to explicitly link microbial function for decomposition of soil organic matter to substrate organic chemistry to improve process representation in a soil organic carbon and phosphorus (P)…

Engineering enzyme networks for biomass deconstruction in synthetic microbial communities

Lead Institution

University of British Columbia

Principal Investigator

Steven Hallam

Project type

FICUS Research

Lignocellulose, the main component of plant cell walls, is arguably the most abundant biopolymer on the planet1,2. Through biorefining, it is also a renewable input for energy and materials…

Integrated multi-omic analysis of high lipid accumulation in the oleaginous green microalgae Ostreococcus tauri to engineer metabolic pathways for improved triacylglycerol feedstocks

Lead Institution

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Principal Investigator

James Evans

Project type

Exploratory Research

Our proposed mutli-omic approach will empower a comprehensive understanding of cellular pathways linking carbon, nitrogen and phosphate metabolism in the microalga Ostreococcus tauri. The use of this…

The effect of C decomposition environment on plant detritus in soil organic matter

Lead Institution

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Principal Investigator

Randy Jackson

Project type

Exploratory Research

While it is established that increasing temperature and moisture increases the rate of soil C mineralization, we do not know whether these factors change the chemical quality or physical protection…

Rhizosphere processes influencing decomposition of soil organic matter and its contribution to phosphorus cycling

Lead Institution

University of Kentucky

Principal Investigator

David McNear

Project type

Exploratory Research

Using multi-technique approach, including a combination of NMR and ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry at EMSL, the overall objective of this study is to determine how P availability and…

Applying multi-dimensional solid state NMR to explore the nanoarchitecture of native and engineered plant cell walls

Lead Institution

University of Adelaide

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Mortimer

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Plants fix carbon via photosynthesis, the majority of which is incorporated into cell wall polysaccharides. These polysaccharides are synthesized in different cellular compartments, but are assembled…

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…

A systems biology approach to identifying the native function of Hg methylation proteins in Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Dwayne Elias

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Methylmercury (MeHg), an organic Hg compound, is a potent toxin that bioaccumulates in food sources and is primarily produced by microorganisms in anaerobic organic-rich soils and sediments. To date,…

Nano-scale examinations of the sequestration of metal(loid)s by organic matter and mineral surface coatings in soils

Lead Institution

University of Manitoba

Principal Investigator

Michael Schindler

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Airborne particulate matter (PM) - suspended solid particles with diameters between a few nanometers (nm) and several micrometers - has always been a constituent of the Earth's atmosphere. Man…