Office of Biological and Environmental Research
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science
The Subsurface Biogeochemical Research and Terrestrial Ecosystem Science programs within the Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) held their first annual joint investigators meeting May 6-7, 2014, in Potomac, Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C.
Abstracts of ongoing research projects in or associated with the SBR and TES programs in 2014 are included in this PDF.
| 8:00-9:55 am | Overview of Programs and Strategic Directions | P. Bayer | |
| 8:00-8:05 am | Welcome and Introductory Comments | P. Bayer | |
| 8:05-8:20 am | BER Programs | S. Weatherwax | |
| 8:20-8:35 am | CESD Programs & Strategic Directions | G. Geernaert | |
| 8:35-8:55 am | Advanced Simulation Capability for Energy (ACME) | D. Koch | |
| 8:55-9:15 am | CESD Data/Modeling Efforts | J. Hnilo | |
| 9:15-9:35 am | TES Program Goals, Objectives, Program Structure and Highlights | D. Stover | |
| 9:35-9:55 am | SBR Program Goals, Objectives, Program Structure and Highlights | D. Lesmes | |
| 9:55-10:15 am | Break | ||
| 10:15-12:15 pm | Plenary Session I — Mechanistic Modeling of Terrestrial Environments: “Bedrock to Atmosphere” | Lesmes | |
| 10:15-10:45 am | The GEWaSC Framework: A Genome-Enabled Approach to MultiScale Modeling of Complex Microbial, Biogeochemical and Hydrological Processes | C. Steefel, E. Brodie | |
| 10:45-11:15 am | NGEE-Arctic: Migrating Knowledge across Scales to Improve Climate Prediction | P. Thornton | |
| 11:15-11:45 am | Diagnosing Scaling Behavior of Groundwater with a Fully-Integrated, High Resolution Hydrologic Model Simulated over the Continental US: Watersheds to Continents | R. Maxwell | |
| 11:45-12:15 pm | Multiscale Modeling of Land-Atmosphere Interactions in CESM | S. Denning | |
| 12:15-2:00 pm | Lunch | ||
| 12:30-2:00 pm | Working Group Sessions | ||
| Hg Working Group | T. Barkay, S. Brooks, N.Yee | ||
| Rads Working Group | S. Fendorf. N. Hess, B. Powell | ||
| 2:00-5:00 pm | Poster Session I | ||
| 2:00-3:30 pm | Poster Subsession A | ||
| 3:30-5:00 pm | Poster Subsession B | ||
| 7:00-8:30 pm | Concurrent Sessions - I | ||
| Concurrent Session 1: SPRUCE | Stover | ||
| 7:00-7:20 pm | The S1 Bog Carbon Cycle and Projected Warming Responses for the SPRUCE Experiment | P. Hanson | |
| 7:20-7:40 pm | Coupling Peat Decomposition and Metagenomics to Incorporate Molecular Scale Processes into Climate Models | J. Kostka | |
| 7:40-8:00 pm | Do all 'Bogs' have Similar Anaerobic Carbon Dynamics and Microbial Community Structure? Putting the SPRUCE Site in a Regional Perspective | S. Bridgham | |
| 8:00-8:20 pm | Organic N cycling at SPRUCE | K. Hofmockel | |
| 8:20 pm | Discussion | ||
| 8:30 pm | Adjourn | ||
| Concurrent Session 2: Science Advances Enabled by EMSL Capabilities | Bayer/Hess | ||
| 7:00-7:10 pm | An Overview of EMSL Science and an Example from Recent Structural Studies of the Major Pilin Protein from Geobacter sulfurreducens | K. Mueller | |
| 7:10-7:20 pm | High-Resolution Molecular Profiling of Permafrost Soil Organic Carbon Composition and Degradation | B. Gu | |
| 7:20-7:30 pm | Multi-System Analysis of Microbial Biofilms | M. Marshall | |
| 7:30-7:40 pm | Pore-Scale and Continuum Simulation of Microfluidics Experiments on Reactive Transport and Multiphase Flow Conducted at EMSL | A. Valocchi | |
| 7:40-7:50 pm | X-ray Tomographic Imaging of Hydraulic Modeling of Plant Roots | C. Liu | |
| 7:50-8:00 pm | Connecting Soil Organic Matter (SOM) Residence Time with SOM Molecular Structure and the Soil Environment | M. Torn | |
| 8:00-8:10 pm | Integrated Soil Organic C Analyses at EMSL Enable New Understanding of Soil C Protection Mechanisms | V. Bailey | |
| 8:10-8:20 pm | Uranium Immobilization in an Iron- and Organic Matter-Rich Rhizosphere of a Native Wetland Plant | D. Kaplan | |
| 8:20 pm | Discussion | ||
| 8:30 pm | Adjourn | ||
| Concurrent Session 3: Inorganic Biogeochemistry | Lesmes | ||
| 7:00-7:20 pm | Electron Transfer and Atom Exchange Between Fe(II) and Structural Fe(III) in Clays | M. Scherer | |
| 7:20-7:40 pm | Reactivity of Iron-Bearing Phyllosilicates with Uranium and Chromium Through Redox Transition Zones | B. Burgos | |
| 7:40-8:00 pm | Dominant Mechanisms of Uranium-Phosphate Reactions in Subsurface Sediments | J. Catalano | |
| 8:00-8:20 pm | Scaling of Molecular Processes to Quantify Biogeochemical Reaction and Transport of Uranium in Subsurface Systems | P. O’Day | |
| 8:20 pm | Discussion | ||
| 8:30 pm | Adjourn | ||
| Concurrent Session 4: Hydrobiogeochemistry | Hirsch/Kuperberg | ||
| 7:00-7:20 pm | Methane Oxidation in Boreal Peatlands: A Joint Field, Laboratory and Modeling Investigation | R. Neumann | |
| 7:20-7:40 pm | Microbial Dynamics in Arctic Tundra Soils: The Interplay of Plants, Soils, and Extreme Climate | M. Wallenstein | |
| 7:40-8:00 pm | Strikingly Different Form of Organic Carbon in Soils of Temperate and Permafrost Soils: Implications for Carbon and Metal Cycling | S. Myneni | |
| 8:00-8:20 pm | Fate of Uranium During Transport Across the Groundwater-Surface Water Interface | P. Jaffe | |
| 8:20 pm | Discussion | ||
| 8:30 pm | Adjourn | ||
| 6:30-8:00 am | Breakfast | ||
| 8:00-9:00 am | Plenary Session II | Hirsch | |
| 8:00-8:30 am | Model-Data Synthesis of Ecosystem Responses to Elevated CO2: From Deserts to Temperate Forests of the U.S | A. Walker | |
| 8:30-9:00 am | Integrating Microbial Ecology with Hydro-Biogeochemistry | J. Stegen | |
| 9:00-12:00 pm | Poster Session II | ||
| 9:00-10:30 am | Poster Subsession C | ||
| 10:30-12:00 pm | Poster Subsession D | ||
| 12:00-1:30 pm | Lunch | ||
| 1:30-3:00 pm | Plenary Session III — Plant Genomics to Ecosystem Function | Lesmes | |
| 1:30-2:00 pm | The Challenges and Opportunities for Extending Plant Genomics to Climate Research and Modeling | D. Weston | |
| 2:00-2:30 pm | Hydraulic Redistribution of Water through Plant Roots - Implications for Carbon Cycling and Energy Flux at Multiple Scales | Z. Cardon | |
| 2:30-3:00 pm | Multiscale Modeling of Ecosystem Structure and Function | G. Katul | |
| 3:00-4:30 pm | Concurrent Sessions — II | ||
| Concurrent Session 5: Disturbances and Responses in Terrestrial Ecosystems | Stover | ||
| 3:00-3:20 pm | B4WarmED: Warming X Rainfall Manipulation Shifts Integrated Soil and Plant Community Processes in a Boreal Ecotone Experiment | P. Reich | |
| 3:20-3:40 pm | Carbon and Energy Balance Consequences of Widespread Mortality in Pinon-Juniper Woodlands | M. Litvak | |
| 3:40-4:00 pm | Resistance and Resilience of a Grassland Ecosystem to Climate Extremes | M. Smith | |
| 4:00-4:20 pm | Deconvolving Local Versus Regional Controls over Plant and Ecosystem Responses to Climate Change in Pacific Northwest Prairies | L. Pfeifer-Meister | |
| 4:20 pm | Discussion | ||
| 4:30 pm | Adjourn | ||
| Concurrent Session 6: Arctic | Kuperberg | ||
| 3:00-3:20 pm | Geophysical Evidence for Surface-Subsurface Interactions in Arctic Tundra | S. Hubbard | |
| 3:20-3:40 pm | Geomorphological Controls on Water and Terrestrial Ecosystem Processes within Ice-Rich Polygonal Landscapes | C. Wilson | |
| 3:40-4:00 pm | Multi-Disciplinary Research Targets Improved Representation of Arctic Ecosystems in Earth System Models | D. Graham | |
| 4:00-4:20 pm | The Impact of Permafrost Carbon Loss on the Carbon Balance of an Experimentally Warmed Tundra Ecosystem | T. Schuur | |
| 4:20 pm | Discussion | ||
| 4:30 pm | Adjourn | ||
| Concurrent Session 7: Environmental Microbiology | Bayer | ||
| 3:00-3:20 pm | Diversity and Metabolic Potential of the Terrestrial Subsurface Microbiome and its Influence on Biogeochemical Cycling | J. Banfield | |
| 3:20-3:40 pm | Omics and Geochemistry: the ENIGMA 100-Well Survey | T. Hazen | |
| 3:40-4:00 pm | Hg(0) Oxidation by Anaerobic Bacteria | N. Yee | |
| 4:00-4:20 pm | Sulfur-Mediated Electron Shuttling during Bacterial Iron Reduction | T. Flynn | |
| 4:20 pm | Discussion | ||
| 4:30 pm | Adjourn | ||
| Breakout Session 8: "Building Better Modeling Tools for Practitioners" | Lesmes | ||
| 3:00-3:15 pm | Experiment-Inspired Software Design and Ecosystem Modular Testing for CLM Development | D. Wang | |
| 3:15-3:30 pm | Expanding the Role of Reactive Transport Modeling within the Biogeochemical Sciences | L. Li | |
| 3:30-3:45 pm | Lighting Talks | Multiple Presenters | |
| 3:45-4:30 pm | Discussion | ||
| 4:30 pm | Adjourn | ||
| 4:30-5:30 pm | Plenary Session IV — How Science Informs Policy | Kuperberg | |
| 4:30-4:45 pm | Science & Policy — An Investment Perspective | J. Bucknall, World Bank | |
| 4:45-5:00 pm | Science & Policy — A Diplomatic Perspective | D. Reidmiller, U.S. Dept of State | |
| 5:00-5:15 pm | Science & Policy — A Research Funding Perspective | K. Barrett, NOAA | |
| 5:15-5:30 pm | Science & Policy — A Scientific Perspective | P. Duffy, USGCRP | |
| 5:30-5:45 pm | Closeout/Announcements | ||
| 5:45-7:00 pm | Dinner | ||
| 7:00 pm | Adjourn | ||
| 7:00-8:30 pm | Team Meetings | ||
| NGEE-Arctic | S. Wullschleger | ||
| SPRUCE | P. Hanson | ||
Subsurface Biogeochemical-Related BER Research Highlights
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