Skip to main content

Projects

As a scientific user facility, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) provides expertise, instrumentation, and resources to 250 projects each year. 

Projects displayed below reflect information and abstracts that were published before April 30, 2024. To review current EMSL user projects, visit Science Central™.

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

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)…

The Lignin Enigma: Turning the Corner

Lead Institution
Washington State University
Principal Investigator
Norman Lewis
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Lignins (Nature's second most abundant terrestrial plant substances) provide structural support for plants to stand upright, to conduct water/nutrients, and as barriers to opportunistic…

Connecting genomic capabilities to physiology, photosynthesis and carbon cycling

Lead Institution
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Principal Investigator
Alexandra Worden
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
More than 50% of global primary production is performed by land plants and green algae. Of all algae green algae are the most closely related to land plants and therefore provide powerful single cell…

The Organic Surfactant Pool on Secondary Organic Aerosol Particles

Lead Institution
Northwestern University
Principal Investigator
Franz Geiger
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles particles rank among the least understood atmospheric constituents in the climate system. Key questions concern their poorly quantified roles in cloud…

Ice Nucleation Propensity of Biological Particles

Lead Institution
Xiamen University
Principal Investigator
Bingbing Wang
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
The proposed study will investigate the ice nucleation propensity of atmospheric biological particles using a novel experimental platform developed in EMSL by our group. We will determine…

Molecular Mechanism of PGPR-Plant Associations

Lead Institution
University of Missouri - Columbia
Principal Investigator
Gary Stacey
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
A large body of literature attests to the plant growth promotion effects of various endophytic bacteria, including significant increases in crop yield. These studies include the possible impact of…

Supported Single-Atom Catalysts for Low Temperature Air Pollution Control

Lead Institution
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Principal Investigator
Ayman Karim
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Catalytic low temperature oxidation is important for many applications including pollution abatement, indoor air quality control, as well as for breaking down chemical warfare agents. Despite…

Use of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance to Trace the Fate of Ozone in Intact Leaves

Lead Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Principal Investigator
Elizabeth Ainsworth
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Ozone is a phytotoxic air pollutant as well as a greenhouse gas, and its concentration has more than doubled in the troposphere since the Industrial Revolution. Ozone is currently considered the most…