Biological Systems Science Division (BSSD) Portfolio

  • The Los Alamos National Laboratory leads two Science Focus Area (SFA) for the DOE Genome Science Program. Microbial Carbon Cycling and Bacterial-Fungal Interactions both combine DOE strengths in microbial genomics, computation, user facility capabilities, and ecosystem sciences to further a comprehensive understanding of the role of microbes in ecosystems.  These programs stand to improve many aspects of ecology from climate modeling and management to soil productivity and resilience.
  • The Quantum Ghost Imaging of Water Content and Plant Health with Entangled Photon Pairs program is exploiting the quantum properties of entangled photon pairs for extremely low-light visualization of important processes in biofuel crops. In this type of quantum-enabled bioimaging, mid infrared light probes the sample of interest at wavelengths specific for key biofuel plant constituents (water, lipids, or lignocellulose), with image formation coming from an easier to visualize visible entangled photon that did not interact with the sample.
  • Carbonaceous Aerosols: Water Uptake and Effects on Light Absorption: Bridging laboratory and field studies to inform model parameterizations.
  • Decoding Host-Pathogen Dynamics with 4D (Epi) Genomics
  • RESTOR-C (RESTORation of soil Carbon by precision biological strategies) is an Energy Earthshot Research Center funded by DOE-BER to enable the success of the DOE’s Carbon Negative Earthshot. The goal of RESTOR-C is to harness plants and microbes to increase carbon flux into soil carbon storage pools to form persistent carbon that is stable for >100 years, through partnerships between LBNL (lead), LANL, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, California State Univ. Monterey Bay, and NMSU.

Earth & Environmental System Sciences Division (EESSD) Portfolio

  • The Los Alamos Field Instrument Deployments and Operations Office manages the BER Atmospheric Radiation Measurement infrastructure’s deployments to the Azores Islands in the Atlantic and two mobile facilities deployed worldwide, to study climate impacts.
  • LANL is responsible for developing next-generation ocean, sea ice, land ice, and computational performance components of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model.
  • Through the Interoperable Design of Extreme-scale Application Software (IDEAS) project, LANL increases scientific productivity by realizing the potential of advanced software and computing resources, with applications in watershed science.
  • LANL leads coastal science initiatives for BER in the Arctic, through the Interdisciplinary Research for Arctic Coastal Environments project, and coastal ocean model development for Integrated Coastal Modeling of the mid-Atlantic region.
  • LANL leads the fine-scale model development of arctic terrestrial and subsurface processes for the Next Generation Ecosystem Experiment in the Arctic. The Lab conducts experiments at the surface and subsurface through synoptic surveys of small- and large-scale hydrological features. 
  • The High-Latitude Application and Testing of Earth System Models project applies high-performance, multi-scale models to study how changes in the high-latitude Earth system respond and contribute to global change.

Biological Systems Sciences Portfolio

  • Bacterial:Fungal Interactions and Their Role in Soil Functioning
  • Soil Metagenomics and Carbon Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems
  • Synthetic metabolic pathways and biosensors to expand lignin-based bioconversion
  • Carbonaceous Aerosols: Water Uptake and Effects on Light Absorption
  • Quantum Ghost Imaging of Water Content and Plant Health with Entangled Photon Pairs
  • Decoding Host-Pathogen Dynamics with 4D (Epi) Genomics

Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences Portfolio

A new ‘spin’ on carrier multiplication in quantum dots

A Week of Climate Science

New AI makes better permafrost maps

Beyond Ice Cubes: Researchers Bring Complex Shapes to Sea-Ice Dynamics Models

Probing wet fire smoke in clouds: Can water intensify the Earth's warming?

Advanced Capabilities for Representing Waves with Earth System Models, a Key Process in coastal Storm Surge Impacts

Up to 15 inches of sea-level rise from ice sheets by 2100 predicted by international modeling collaboration

The Traits of Microbes Matter in Microbial Carbon Cycling and Storage

Studies find less impact from wildfire smoke on climate

El Niño-linked decreases in soil moisture could trigger massive tropical-plant die offs

Expedition drifts in the Arctic ice to study climate

Unraveling the mysteries of the tiniest living things

Drought impact study shows new issues for plants and carbon dioxide

Microbes are metabolic specialists

Hunt is over for one of the "Top 50 Most-Wanted Fungi"

Melting ice may change shape of Arctic river deltas

Polar convergences

Simulating ice at the bottom of the world: Modeling the Antarctic ice sheets

User Executive Committee Profile: Aerosols advocate

Arctic ice model upgrade to benefit polar research, industry and military

Arctic greening thaws permafrost, boosts runoff

New approach to extracting fossil fuels has benefits

Community-driven sea ice modeling with CICE Consortium

New high-resolution exascale Earth-modeling system announced for energy

ARM Successfully Completes Challenging Antarctic Atmospheric Study

Desert Scientists Turn to Rainforest for Climate Answers

As Forests Disappear, Examining the Mechanisms of Their Death