Projects

Why is Arctic tundra soil respiration carbon limited at low temperatures?

Lead Institution

University of Toledo

Principal Investigator

Michael Weintraub

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Soil microbial communities are active during much of the long Arctic winter, despite low temperatures, so overwinter microbial activity is important to global carbon (C) budgets. C-rich Arctic soils…

Dissecting Fe Driven Changes to Metabolism in Photosynthetic Eukaryotes

Lead Institution

Michigan State University

Principal Investigator

Stefan Schmollinger

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient for nearly all forms of life, because of its vital role in respiration, photosynthesis, central carbon metabolism, as well as other reactions involving…

Understanding the Roles of Phase State and Phase Separation in the Growth of Secondary Organic Aerosols

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Rahul Zaveri

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

We propose to investigate the fundamental roles of phase state and phase separation in the growth of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) formed from oxidation of selected volatile organic compounds (in…

Influence of hematite crystal face on organic ligand surface interactions with iron oxide/water interfaces studied using nonlinear spectroscopy techniques and molecular simulation methods.

Lead Institution

University of Puget Sound

Principal Investigator

Amanda Mifflin

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The proposed work will examine the interfacial phenomena of the organic ligand acetohydroxamic acid (aHa) at the hematite/water interface and the molecular structure at organic/aqueous interface…

Identification of plant immune-active metabolic constituents of extracellular bacterial vesicles

Lead Institution

Duke University

Principal Investigator

Meta Kuehn

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Cells release vesicles to carry out a variety of functions, including both beneficial and antagonistic inter-kingdom communication. Bacteria release vesicles constitutively and by activation, and…

Molecular understanding of nutrient and organic sorption on model mineral surfaces

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Kelsey Stoerzinger

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This proposal aims to obtain molecular understanding of the sorption of nitrogen (N) oxyanions and model organic species on model mineral surfaces, and ultimately provide better constraints in…

Characterization of Self-Incompatibility in the Bioenergy Grass Miscanthus

Lead Institution

HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology

Principal Investigator

Kankshita Swaminathan

Project type

FICUS Research

Miscanthus is a widely adapted high biomass perennial grass, commonly grown as an ornamental, that shows promise as a bioenergy crop. Most available Miscanthus lines, including the high yielding…

Resolving carbon fluxes within microbial communities inhabiting full-scale bioenergy facilities

Lead Institution

University of British Columbia

Principal Investigator

Ryan Ziels

Project type

FICUS Research

Elucidating the physiology and metabolic function of uncultivated microorganisms in their in situ environment remains a critical challenge in microbial ecology. This knowledge gap obfuscates attempts…

Plant-mycorrhizal-decomposer interactions under climate change: the role of shifting plant carbon allocation

Lead Institution

Boston University

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Bhatnagar

Project type

FICUS Research

Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) that associate with the roots of live plants can control the growth rate of their hosts and the amount of nutrients and carbon (C) that are recycled through soil (e.g., as…

Characterization of simplified soil communities with high and low carbon use efficiency across differing moisture treatments

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Vanessa Bailey

Project type

FICUS Research

This project is directed under the "Terrestrial Microbial Carbon Cycling" SFA project awarded to Los Alamos National Laboratory. The goal of the SFA is to interrogate how soil microbial…

Integrative analysis of multi-omic data across NEON eco-climatic regions

Lead Institution

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Principal Investigator

Jeffrey Blanchard

Project type

FICUS Research

Our climate crisis, resulting from changes in interacting climate variables (temperature, rainfall, atmospheric chemistry) over the last century, has impacted all ecosystems on the surface of the…

Ecophysiology, inter-domain interactions, and biogeochemical impact of an aerobic methane-producing freshwater bacterium

Lead Institution

Montana State University

Principal Investigator

Roland Hatzenpichler

Project type

FICUS Research

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and understanding its sources and sinks is a core goal of the BER and DOE missions. Freshwater systems are responsible for approximately 16% of global methane…

Microbial nitrogen use efficiencies and their molecular controls in carbon sequestering soils

Lead Institution

United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service

Principal Investigator

Amisha Poret-Peterson

Project type

Exploratory Research

Present-day agriculture faces a major challenge to sustain food production in the face of a changing climate while mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. One way to rise to this challenge is to…

Unraveling the Interplay of Wetland Root Strength and Ecogeomorphology

Lead Institution

Louisiana State University

Principal Investigator

Navid Jafari

Project type

Exploratory Research

Critical gaps persist in understanding how coastal wetlands perform against storm surge and wave forcings, how these systems evolve over space and time (particularly in the face of sea level rise and…

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…