Earth and Environmental Sciences Area Logo Earth and Environmental Sciences Area Logo
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Logo
Menu
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Organizational Charts
    • Virtual Tours
    • EESA Strategic Vision
  • Our People
    • A-Z People
    • Alumni Network
    • Area Offices
    • Committees
    • Directors
    • IDEA Working Group
    • Paul A. Witherspoon
    • Postdocs & Early Careers
    • Search by Expertise
  • Careers & Opportunities
    • Careers
    • Intern Pilot w/CSUEB
    • Mentorship Program
    • Recognition & Funding Opps
    • EESA Mini Grants
    • S&E Metrics for Performance and Promotion
    • Student Opportunities
    • Supervisor EnRichment (SupER) Program
    • Promotion Metrics (Scientific)
  • Research
    • Area-Wide Program Domain
      • Earth AI & Data
    • Our Divisions
    • Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division
      • Environmental & Biological Systems Science
        • Programs
        • Environmental Remediation & Water Resources
        • Ecosystems Biology Program
        • Bioenergy
      • Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions
        • Programs
        • Climate Modeling
        • Atmospheric System Research
        • Terrestrial Ecosystem Science
      • Climate & Atmosphere Processes
        • Programs
        • Climate Modeling
        • Atmospheric System Research
      • Earth Systems & Society
        • Programs
        • Climate Modeling
    • Energy Geosciences Division
      • Discovery Geosciences
        • Programs
        • Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Geophysics
        • Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Geochemistry
        • Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Isotope
      • Energy Resources and Carbon Management
        • Programs
        • Carbon Removal & Mineralization Program
        • Carbon Storage Program
        • Geothermal Systems
        • Hydrocarbon Resource Sustainability
        • Nuclear Energy & Waste
      • Resilient Energy, Water & Infrastructure
        • Programs
        • Water-Energy
        • Critical Infrastructure
        • Environmental Resilience
        • Grid-Scale Subsurface Energy Storage
        • National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI)
    • Projects
    • Research at a Glance
    • Publication Lists
    • Centers and Resources
    • Technologies & National User Programs
  • Departments
    • Climate Sciences
    • Ecology
    • Geochemistry
    • Geophysics
    • Hydrogeology
    • Operations
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • Earth & Environment Newsletter
  • Intranet
  • Safety
    • EESA Safety
  • FoW
  • Search

  • all
  • people
  • events
  • posts
  • pages
  • projects
  • publications

Program Domain

Environmental & Biological Systems Science

Develop a predictive understanding of environmental processes and microbial metabolic diversity that mediate biogeochemical cycles, and develop robust environmental solutions.

Programs

History of uranium milling at a site of deep interest to LBNL (DOE’s Rifle, CO field station).
Program

Environmental Remediation and Water Resources

The key driver for this program is to improve the scientific foundation of hydrological, biological, and geochemical processes and their interactions relevant to environmental remediation, water resources, and enhanced energy production.

Kenneth H. Williams khwilliams@lbl.gov 510-701-1089

Coffee bean borer on coffee bean; caffeine chain upper left; bacteria image from beetle gut right. Crop 16:9.
Program

Ecosystems Biology Program

The Ecosystems Biology Program focuses on discovering and understanding the molecular basis of plant, microbial and metazoan interactions, including specific gene functions, species interactions, and community dynamics under a variety of environmental conditions—and developing the advanced technology that enables such understanding.

Eoin Brodie elbrodie@lbl.gov 510-486-6584

Program

Bioenergy

Research projects in EESA’s Bioenergy Program apply synthetic biology, bioengineering, and microbiology to foster renewable fuel production. Key themes of the Bioenergy Program include: (1) developing novel biofuel pathways in bacteria, (2) exploiting microbial metabolic diversity for biofuel production and lignocellulose deconstruction, and (3) mitigating petroleum souring.

harry beller

Private: Harry R. Beller hrbeller@lbl.gov 510-486-7321

Background

Physical, chemical and biological soil and subsurface interactions are critical to sustaining life. These interactions regulate the geochemical flux of life-critical elements, control food production, and purify water. Biologically based processes can also be used to extract or enhance natural energy resources. It is imperative to deepen our quantitative and predictive understanding of how abiotic and biotic components interact to ensure the sustainability of these critical terrestrial systems and to pursue the potential for new green solutions.

A key characteristic of EESA’s Environmental & Biological Systems Science Program Domain is its ability to interrogate and interpret small-scale biological processes within the context of larger Earth systems, such as molecules in leaves, and microbial communities in terrestrial and marine environments and in energy reservoirs. Scientists working in this Program Domain strive to expand their understanding to predict how living systems are organized and function, from molecular  to watershed and reservoir scales. Scientists also develop cutting-edge tools to facilitate such understanding, including the 2008 R&D 100 award-winning PhyloChip and the EESA-led Berkeley Synchrotron Infrared Structural Biology (BSISB) program. EESA scientists draw on extensive environmental science expertise in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Area, and have a reputation for path-breaking work in molecular environmental microbiology, microbial physiology, shallow subsurface biogeochemistry, environmental geophysics, and multiscale mechanistic modeling of microbially mediated processes.

Research in this Program Domain is aligned with the LBNL Biosciences Area strategic direction. In particular, it contributes to the quantification of how microbial communities interact with and transform the functioning of dynamic and heterogeneous Earth systems.

Research in this Program Domain is also closely aligned with the Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions Program Domain, because quantifying the effect of climate change on biological systems (and vice versa) must consider bedrock-to-atmospheric processes.

This Program Domain is part of the Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division.

Program Domain Leads

Eoin Brodie
Deputy Director, Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division
Lead, Environmental & Biological Systems Sciences Program Domain

News & Events

Microbial Response to a Changing and Fire-Prone Arctic Ecosystem

April 27, 2022

Burning more than 1,000 square kilometers of tundra on Alaska’s North Slope, the 2007 Anaktuvuk river wildfire is one of the largest fires to occur within Arctic ecosystems. Berkeley Lab scientist Nick Bouskill led a study that used data from this disturbance event to predict ecosystem recovery as fires advance in a changing climate. (Credit:…

Study Evaluates Phosphorus Availability Underground using Plant Leaves as Biosensors

April 25, 2022

When envisioning renewable energy, sources that often come to mind are the sun, wind, batteries, and water. However, biofuel, a type of renewable energy that converts organic material from plants into liquid fuel, is an important part of a global effort to achieve net-zero emissions. Switchgrass, a deep-rooted native North American grass that grows in…

Researchers Investigate How Changes in Small-Scale Environmental Conditions Impact Microbial Structure and Function

  Just one teaspoon of soil or sediment can contain up to one billion microbes. These microorganisms in Earth’s subsurface, although invisible, largely influence the global carbon cycle through their ability to break down organic material, which releases carbon dioxide in the process. However, environmental conditions within Earth’s subsurface such as moisture, nutrient availability, and…

EESA Study Closes Knowledge Gaps of Drought Impacts on Microbial Activity

Climate change is leading to an increase in many vivid impacts, such as more frequent wildfires and floods. However, there are many effects of climate change that can’t be seen from miles away – or even seen at all. The intensity and frequency of drought is predicted to increase along with higher temperatures. Droughts can…

EESA Researchers Develop Open-Source Code for Modeling Soil Biogeochemistry

April 22, 2022

  Senior scientist William Riley and several EESA collaborators have published a chapter of a new book on soil biogeochemistry. Published in March, the book Multi-Scale Biogeochemical Processes in Soil Ecosystems: Critical Reactions and Resilience to Climate Changes was developed to provide a state-of-the-art overview of research in soil biogeochemical processes and strategies for greenhouse…

Berkeley Lab Team Hunts for Carbon in Soil Without Getting Their Hands Dirty

April 14, 2022

This article was published first at newscenter.lbl.gov.   Soil imaging with neutrons can give a quick, detailed look at the amount and distribution of carbon (and certain other important elements) in soil without disturbing the soil or plant roots Soil imaging with neutrons can give a quick, detailed look at the amount and distribution of…

  • Our People
    • Area Offices
    • Committees
    • Directors
    • Organizational Charts
    • Postdocs
    • Staff Only
    • Search by Expertise
  • Departments
    • Climate Sciences
    • Ecology
    • Geochemistry
    • Geophysics
    • Hydrogeology
  • Research
    • Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division
    • Energy Geosciences Division
    • Program Domains
      • Programs
    • Projects
  • Contact
    • 510 486 6455
    • eesawebmaster@lbl.gov
    • Our Identity

Earth and Environmental Sciences Area Logo DOE Earth and Environmental Sciences Area Logo UC

A U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory Managed by the University of California

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory · Earth and Environmental Sciences Area · Privacy & Security Notice