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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.™ 

 

  • Projects beginning at or after given date.
    Projects ending at or before given date.

Quantum Calculations on Ion Channels, Especially Voltage Gated Channels

Lead Institution
City College of New York
Principal Investigator
Michael Green
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The properties of ion channel proteins, found in essentially all organisms, will be computed using quantum calculations. The principal techniques include optimization at Hartree-Fock level …

Molecular understanding of nutrient sorption on model mineral surfaces

Lead Institution
Oregon State University
Principal Investigator
Kelsey Stoerzinger
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Iron (Fe)-containing minerals exert a significant influence on soil and sediment geochemistry, such as the cycling of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) nutrients in the bioavailable form of dissolved…

Organic carbon characterization in a warming coastal wetland

Lead Institution
Smithsonian Institution
Principal Investigator
James Megonigal
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Coastal wetlands are global hotspots of carbon storage, but the future carbon stock stability of coastal wetlands is uncertain as data are lacking on responses to factors such as warming and elevated…

In situ tracking of carbon flow through the soil microbiome

Lead Institution
Institute of Microbiology of the CAS
Principal Investigator
Petr Baldrian
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Forest soils represent an environment with high carbon (C) stocks and important hotspots of C turnover and microorganisms are the most important actors in this process. The understanding of the C…

Probing the Extreme Temperature and Salinity Limits of Deep Subsurface CH4-cycling Chemolithoautotrophic Microbial Syntrophic Communities and Their Assembly Using NanoSIMS and FISH-TAMB

Lead Institution
Princeton University
Principal Investigator
Tullis Onstott
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The specific aim of this Large-Scale EMSL proposal is to image the metabolic interactions of deep subsurface anaerobic CH4-cycling microbial consortia: 1) at high pressure and temperature; 2) at high…

Nature of Natural Organic Matter Interactions with Mineral Surfaces

Lead Institution
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Principal Investigator
Geoffrey Bowers
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The interactions of organic- and bio-molecules with minerals play a central role in controlling soil biogeochemistry; plant nutrition; chemical processes in sediments, soils, sedimentary rocks and…

Visualizing Uranium Atom Exchange in UO2 Driven by Biogeochemical Processes

Lead Institution
Washington University in St. Louis
Principal Investigator
Daniel Giammar
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Redox-driven recrystallization of metal oxides is an exciting environmental phenomenon that can influence biogeochemical cycles of both nutrients and contaminants. This phenomena occurs in systems…

Functional characterization of a defined Panicum rhizobiome

Lead Institution
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Principal Investigator
Esther Singer
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Nitrogen limitation is a global challenge for biofuel crop resilience and hence bioenergy security. Plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) can help to mitigate plant stress by forming symbiotic…

Manganese biomineralization by the bacterial protein complex Mnx

Lead Institution
University of Washington
Principal Investigator
Bradley Tebo
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Manganese-oxide mineral formation by bacterial oxidation of dissolved Mn(II) is an important process in aquatic and soil environments and is a key part of the global Mn cycle. The Mn bio-oxides…

Mechanisms of Nitrogen Fixation by Endophytes of Populus

Lead Institution
University of Washington
Principal Investigator
Sharon Doty
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Native poplar (Populus) plants have a diverse microbiota including endophytes, microorganisms that live within plants, some of which can fix atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into forms of nitrogen (N)…