Romy Chakraborty, whose background is in anaerobic microbial physiology and microbial ecology, assumes the role of the Department Head for Ecology, effective February 1, 2017 as announced by EESA ALD, Susan Hubbard
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Marin County’s San Geronimo Valley Planning Group is evaluating the watersheds that encompass the Lagunitas and San Geronimo Creeks, which drain into Tomales Bay and provide coho salmon habitat. Water pathogens have been detected in the watershed and Tomales Bay. Faulty on-site wastewater systems, especially for properties in close proximity to streams, have been identified as among the sources…
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The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has awarded $4.6 million to Berkeley Lab for two innovative projects that promote nondestructive ways to “see” into the soil, increase crop yields, and promote the storage of carbon.
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The Director’s Awards program recognizes significant achievements of Berkeley Lab employees. Each year, these awards are given for accomplishments, leadership, collaboration, multi-disciplinary science, cross-divisional projects, and commitment to excellence in support of the Lab’s mission and strategic goals. The 2016 recipients of the Director’s Achievement Awards were recognized this month. To see a complete list…
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The Earth and Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) recently held a townhall (Oct. 31) to preview the upcoming release of its 10-year strategic plan. Deputy Director Horst Simon, as well as Directors from other Lab Areas, joined the full house. Five Grand Challenges have been identified to drive EESA’s research over the coming decade: Earth’s Microbial…
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The benefits of pioneering science to agriculture was on display when Karen Ross, Secretary of the CA Department of Food & Agriculture, visited Berkeley Lab.
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Jill Banfield's research team provides new clues about the roles of subsurface microbes in globally important cycles and adds new branches to the tree of life.
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Congratulations to EESA’s 12 FY2017 LDRD award recipients! LDRDs support high-quality science proposals, especially those that advance new strategic directions for EESA and the Berkeley Lab. Here are this year’s awardees: Lab-wide strategic growth Awards to support Microbes to Biomes Eoin Brodie—Harnessing the soil microbiome for food and fuel security Javier Ceja Navarro—The Soil Metazoan…
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Using the award-winning PhyloChip, a credit card-sized device that can detect the presence of more than 60,000 species of bacteria and archaea, a new method was found that was more sensitive than conventional methods at assessing health risks of microbially contaminated water.
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The eight species of fungi on board, which are descended from microbes collected at Chernobyl, may one day lead the way to a “sunblock” that could protect human space travelers from the harmful radiation of space. The microbes were originally collected by Tamas Torok a scientist affiliated with the Climate and Ecosystems Sciences Division. “Some…
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