Scientists who study Arctic ecosystems have forewarned a “sleeping giant” hidden within permafrost soils–trillions of tons of planet-warming greenhouse gases that will be released when rapid thaw awakens microbes, activating soil decomposition. Improving what is known about microbial community makeup and behavior in these fragile ecosystems could help determine how consequential rapid permafrost thaw will…
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Tracking Carbon Stored in Revived Bay Area Salt Marshes Evading a bed of gooey pluff mud, Jennifer Bahramian nimbly hops onto a 16-foot tall scaffold tower. “You can get really stuck there,” she says, looking at the flint-colored soil below. A distinct rotten-egg like stench odors the cool summer breeze. “That stink,” she says, “is…
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This article originally was published by the Computing Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab. Read below, or here. When bright green leaves start appearing and the scent of fragrant spring blossoms fills the air, we know the darker days of winter are behind us and the full bloom of spring is near. But every year…
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This article was originally published on the website of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. It was authored by Shannon Brescher Shea, a senior writer/editor in the Office of Science’s Office of Communication and Public Affairs. Ice crashed down on the windshield of the small plane. Rain pounded the wings. Water sloshed inside…
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A project led by Yuxin Wu has been awarded a $2 million grant by the California Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge. He will lead research over about three years into using fiber optic sensing for real-time monitoring of how wind turbine failures, particularly in California’s earthquake-prone coastal regions, impact marine animals. Learn more about…
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Under the leadership of Nicola Falco and Haruko Wainwright, Berkeley Lab partners with Arva Intelligence to enhance commercial applications of artificial intelligence in precision agriculture by integrating existing data sources. In January, the project was awarded up to $200,000 to develop machine learning software to integrate the DOE’s environmental databases to help analyze effective sustainable…
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Brenda Delgadillo Moreno felt she couldn’t afford to work as an unpaid intern while an undergraduate student at Cal State University East Bay (CSUEB)–as much as she knew it would help her future science career. Then last spring she was juggling full-time administrative work in the university registrar’s office with starting her master’s…
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Jill Banfield, a UC Berkeley professor and EESA faculty scientist, co-led a team to discover 351 different huge bacteria-eating phages. One of these is the largest bacteriophage known to date with a genome that at 735,000 pairs long, is nearly 15 times longer than the average phage. According to UC Berkeley, university researchers and their collaborators…
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Students from The Branson School visited EESA on February 12 to learn from scientists engaged in climate, energy, and water research. Their visit featured a presentation by Associate Laboratory Director for EESA Susan Hubbard who introduced the students to Berkeley Lab and a tour of the Advanced Light Source. The students then went to Pers…
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EESA faculty scientist Dan Stolper is among nine faculty members at UC Berkeley to be awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship, an honor given yearly to the brightest up-and-coming scientists in the United States and Canada. They are among 126 fellowships announced February 12. Since the first Sloan Research Fellowships were awarded in 1955, 282 UC…
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