Environmental & Biological Systems Science

Ecosystems Biology Program

Coffee bean borer on coffee bean; caffeine chain upper left; bacteria image from beetle gut right. Crop 16:9. — Coffee bean borer on its food, a coffee bean. Gut bacteria break down caffeine. Caffeine molecule. Credit: Berkeley Lab.

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.

Highlights

Microbe images imposed on Earth. Credit Berkeley Lab

Project

Microbes to Biomes (M2B): Harnessing the Soil Microbome for Food and Fuel Security

Microbes-to-Biomes (M2B) is a Berkeley Lab-wide initiative designed to reveal, decode, and harness microbes—the most abundant and diverse life form on Earth—in ways that protect our fuel and food supplies, environmental security, and personal health. It was launched in early 2015, featuring five projects funded through the LDRD program.

Project

Mapping Soil Carbon from Cradle to Grave

In this EESA project, scientists seek to define a molecular blueprint for how organic carbon decomposition and stabilization processes in soil are impacted by the interactions between plant roots, the soil microbial community (bacteria, archaea, fungi, microfauna) and the soil matrix.

Project

Berkeley Synchrotron Infrared Structural Biology Imaging Project

The Berkeley Synchrotron Infrared Structural Biology (BSISB) Imaging Program develops and offers state-of-the-art instrumentation for characterizing and imaging interactions among plants, microbes and their environments.

Program Overview

The Ecosystems Biology Program focuses on discovering and understanding the molecular basis of microbial interactions, including specific gene functions, species interactions, and community dynamics under a variety of environmental conditions, ranging from soil and sediments to human and invertebrate guts. The Program also develops technology that enables such understanding. A prime example of advanced technology is the DOE-supported Berkeley Synchrotron Infrared Structural Biology (BSISB) imaging program at the Advanced Light Source, which enables live cell chemical imaging and single-cell metabolic phenotyping of living cells by SF-FTIR spectromicroscopy.

A hallmark characteristic of research in this program is the ability to combine tools of modern molecular biology and biochemistry with biogeochemical and isotopic analyses, and mathematical modeling to determine the relationships between microbial composition, metabolic potential and critical biogeochemical processes across Earth’s ecosystems. Research projects in this program include the study of soil carbon transformation and sequestration, microbial nutrient mobilization for plant productivity and the sustainable cultivation of bioenergy relevant crops, each within the context of ecosystems that are subject to climate or land-use change. As a founding group in the Microbes-to-Biomes initiative, our research spans molecules to ecosystems, with specific emphases on soil-plant-microbe interactions, interactions between microbes and metazoans (from humans to insects and soil fauna), and understanding the origin and fate of water borne microbial contaminants.

Key sponsors of this program are DOE-Biological and Environmental Research (BER), NIH, and industry.

Featured Projects

Project

Berkeley Synchrotron Infrared Structural Biology Imaging Project

Project

ENIGMA

ENIGMA— Ecosystems and Networks Integrated with Genes and Molecular Assemblies—seeks to advance understanding of microbial biology and the impact of microbial communities on their ecosystems. Team members collaborate closely to generate detailed quantitative understanding across scales—from molecular to cellular and community levels. Scientists within ENIGMA have the technological and scientific skills and experience to link environmental microbiological field-studies to both highly advanced field and laboratory meta-functional genomic and genetics tools.

Project

Mapping Soil Carbon from Cradle to Grave

Project

Microbes to Biomes (M2B): Harnessing the Soil Microbome for Food and Fuel Security

Primary Sponsors

News & Events

Three EESA scientists receive DOE Early Career Research Awards

August 10, 2017

Three Earth and Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) scientists receive the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Early Career Research Award for 2017. Congratulations to Nick Bouskill, Charlie Koven, and Neslihan Tas Baas.

Berkeley Lab Scientists Brief California Science Advisory Panel for Food and Agriculture

July 28, 2017

As two-thirds of the fruits and nuts—and over a third of the vegetables—produced in the United States are grown in California, it’s crucial that the Golden State cultivate healthy soils that are resilient to stresses such as climate change, drought, and groundwater overuse. Now scientists at Berkeley Lab’s Earth & Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) and Biosciences Area are contributing to the effort by sharing their expertise with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)’s Science Advisory Panel, a group comprised of farmers, agriculture professionals, and experts in areas such as water, conservation, and resource management. Last week, EESA scientist Peter Nico hosted the panel at the Lab to brief them on research related to developing healthy soils, sustainable groundwater management strategies, and climate-adaptive agriculture.

Susan Hubbard Named 2017 American Geophysical Union Fellow

July 27, 2017

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has named Susan Hubbard, Associate Laboratory Director for the Earth & Environmental Sciences Area at Berkeley Lab, as a 2017 AGU Fellow.

Margaret Torn Named 2017 American Geophysical Union Fellow

Margaret Torn, a senior scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Earth & Environmental Sciences Area, has been named by the American Geophysical Union as a 2017 AGU Fellow.

EESA Scientists Investigate Extreme 2013 Colorado Flood

July 24, 2017

In a paper that appeared online on July 18, 2017 at Weather and Climate Extremes, a team of Berkeley Lab scientists—including EESA’s Bill Collins and Christina Patricola—reports that climate change attributed to human activity made a Colorado storm much more severe than would otherwise have occurred.

New Data Archive Aims to Amplify Impact of Ecosystem Research

July 18, 2017

As environmental scientists move towards understanding earth systems at greater resolution than ever before, it’s critical that they have access to needed data sets. Yet much of these data are not archived, publicly available, or collected in a standardized format, due to the multiple challenges of coordinating efforts across independent research groups and institutions worldwide.

Now researchers at Berkeley Lab are taking action to address these challenges. Thanks to $3.6 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Science, the Lab’s Computing Sciences and Earth & Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) are partnering on a three-year project to develop an archive that will serve as a repository for hundreds of DOE-funded research projects.