DOE-ERSP 4th Annual PI Meeting
April 20-23, 2009

The Department of Energy's Environmental Remediation Science Program (ERSP) held its 4th annual Principal Investigator (PI) meeting on April 20-23, 2009, at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Virginia. [ERSP is now Subsurface Biogeochemical Research Program (SBR)]

2009 Abstract Book (pdf)

Poster Schedule (pdf) (sorted alphabetically by presenter)

Poster Schedule-alpha (pdf) (sorted by session)

Agenda with Links to Presentations (agenda pdf)

Monday, April 20

3:00 PM	BER Update Anna Palmisano, Associate Director for BER
3:15 PM	Opening Comments and SBR Programmatic Overview Todd Anderson, SBR Program Manager
3:35 PM	SBR Strategic Planning Process David Lesmes, SBR Program Manager
*INTEGRATED FIELDSCALE SUBSURFACE RESEARCH CHALLENGE (IFRC) PRESENTATIONS OAK RIDGE*
4:00 PM	Overview of the Oak Ridge Integrated Field Research Challenge Project and Introduction of Year 3 Research Activities Philip Jardine, ORNL
4:20 PM	Geophysical Quantification of Plume-Scale Flow Architecture and Recharge Processes Susan Hubbard, LBNL
4:45 PM	Bioreduction of Uranium with Slow Release Substrate Dave Watson, ORNL
5:10 PM	Microbial Community Response Parallels Uranium Immobilization and Remobilization during In Situ Field Manipulation Joel Kostka, FSU
5:35 PM	Sequestering Uranium and Technetium through Coprecipitation with Aluminum in ORIFRC Acidic Sediments Baohua Gu, ORNL
7:00 PM	Poster Session I

Tuesday, April 21

*MERCURY BIOGEOCHEMISTRY*
8:30 AM		Overview of Mercury Contamination at the Oak Ridge Y-12 site Scott Brooks, ORNL
9:00 AM		Reduction of Mercury in the Saturated Subsurface Sediments and its Potential to Mobilize Mercury in its Elemental Form Tamar Barkay, Rutgers University
9:30 AM		Mercury Interactions with Natural Organic Matter Kathy Nagy, University of Illinois/Chicago
RADIONUCLIDE TRANSPORT AND IMMOBILIZATION MECHANISMS
10:30 AM		Searching for Sustainable Approaches for Remediating U-Contaminated Environments Tetsu Tokunaga, LBNL
11:00 AM		Collaborative Research: Biogeochemical and Microbial Controls of Iodine-129 Mobility in Groundwater Relevant to Long-Term Stewardship of DOE Sites Peter Santschi, Texas A&M University
11:30 AM		Release of Aged Contaminants from Weathered Sediments: Effects of Sorbate Speciation on Scaling of Reactive Transport Karl Mueller, Penn State University
*BREAKOUT SESSION*
1:00 PM- 3:00 PM		Breakout Session 1: Issues and Current Research on Biogeochemical Transformation and Transport of Mercury at Contaminated DOE Sites Convener: Liyuan Liang, ORNL This break out session will address the current portfolio of SBR-funded research on mercury (Hg) and to identify potential future research opportunities regarding this contaminant. Mercury is a pervasive global pollutant that, in its common methylated form (monomethyl mercury, [CH3Hg+] MeHg), bioaccumulates in the food web and is highly toxic to humans and other ecological receptors. Industrial activities at DOE sites, and notably several locations on the Oak Ridge Reservation, have resulted in large areas heavily contaminated with Hg. The Science Focus Area program at ORNL is concentrated on studying the factors that govern net MeHg production. Our approach encompasses spatial scales from the molecular to field and integrates expertise from aquatic chemistry, geochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, neutron scattering, and high performance computing and simulations. This session will be open to all meeting attendees. Discussion will focus on the current portfolio of SBR-funded Hg research and possible future directions. The session will include an informal presentation period followed by open discussion among attendees to identify key scientific uncertainties associated with Hg transformations. Investigators attending the session will be exposed to opportunities for collaboration and ideas for new research.
	1:00 PM	Liyuan Liang, Introductory remarks 1:10 PM William Goddard, Caltech, “Development of Highly Sensitive Micro-Biosensors for in-situ Monitoring of Mercury (II) Contaminants through Genetic-evolution and Computer modeling of Metal-binding Proteins”
	1:20 PM	Anne Summers, U. Georgia, “Identifying biomarkers and mechanisms of toxic metal stress with global proteomics”
	1:30 PM	Satish Myneni, Princeton University, “The role of sulfhydryl binding of Hg onto bacterial cell walls and their binding environments”
	1: 45 PM	Challenges and collaborative opportunities, Remarks by Tony Palumbo, ORNL; Anne Summers, U. Georgia
12:45 PM - 3:00 PM		Breakout Session 2: Biogeochemical Reaction Modeling Conveners: Eric Roden (University of Wisconsin), Qusheng Jin (University of Oregon)
	12:45 PM	Eric Roden Introductory remarks
	12:55 PM	Fan Zhang, ORNL “In situ U(VI) bioreduction modeling at the ORFRC”
	1:20 PM	Steve Yabusaki, PNNL “Biogeochemical modeling issues/needs motivated by the in situ Rifle experiments”
	1:45 PM	Qusheng Jin, University of Oregon “Microbial physiology-based kinetic reaction model of redox metabolism in biostimulated sediments”
	2:10 PM	Krishna Mahadevan, University of Toronto “Linking genome-scale metabolic models to reactive transport simulations”
	2:35 PM	Martial Taillefert, Georgia Institute of Technology “Simulation of microbial organophosphate metabolism and uranium-phosphate precipitation in sediments”
3:00 PM		New and Current Capabilities Available to Researchers at the Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory (EMSL) Andy Felmy, EMSL Chief Scientist
*INTEGRATED FIELD-SCALE SUBSURFACE RESEARCH CHALLENGE (IFRC) PRESENTATIONS HANFORD 300 AREA*
3:30 PM		Hanford 300 Area IFRC John Zachara PNNL Lead PI
3:40 PM		Geophysical characterization of the Hanford IFRC site Andy Ward (PNNL), Roelof Versteeg (INL), Timothy Johnson (INL), and Christopher Strickland (PNNL). [A joint contribution from the Hanford IFRC and the PNNL-SFA]
4:00 PM		The method of anchored distributions (MAD) for integration and inversion of IFRC hydrogeological data and for establishing a geostatistical site model Yoram Rubin, (UC Berkeley), Haruko Murakami, (UC Berkeley), Xingyuan Chen (UC Berkeley), Hang Bai (UC Berkeley)
4:20 PM		Hydrologic characterization and results from the first tracer experiment at Hanford’s 300 Area IFRC site Mark Rockhold (PNNL), Vince Vermeul (PNNL), Chris Murray (PNNL), and John Zachara (PNNL)
4:40 PM		Variability in adsorbed uranium concentrations in saturated-zone sediments from the IFRC tracer-test well array in Hanford’s 300 Area uranium plume Douglas Kent (USGS), Deborah Stoliker (USGS), and John Zachara (PNNL)
5:00 PM		IFRC site Chunmiao Zheng (University of Alabama), Rui Ma (University of Alabama), Henning Prommer (CSIRO, Australia), Chongxuan Liu (PNNL), Janek Greskowiak (CSIRO, Australia), John Zachara (PNNL), and Mark Rockhold (PNNL)
5:20 PM		Microbial ecology in subsurface sediments from Hanford 300 Area unconfined aquifer Allan Konopka (PNNL), Xueju Lin (PNNL), David Kennedy (PNNL), Jim K Fredrickson (PNNL) and Rob Knight (University of Colorado) [A PNNL-SFA contribution]
6:30 PM		POSTER SESSION II

Wednesday, April 22

MEASUREMENT AND MONITORING TECHNIQUES
8:30 AM	Development of Highly Sensitive Micro-Biosensors for in-situ Monitoring of Mercury (II) and Chromium (VI) Contaminants through Genetic-evolution and Computer modeling of Metal-binding Proteins William Goddard, California Institute of Technology
9:00 AM	Contaminant Flux Measurement in the Environment Kirk Hatfield, University of Florida
9:30 AM	Electrode Techniques for Monitoring Microbial Activity in the Environment Ken Williams, LBNL
MICROBIOLOGICAL PROCESSES INFLUENCING CONTAMINANT MOBILITY
10:30 AM	Role of Microbial Synergies in Immobilization of Metals Slava Epstein, Northeastern University
11:00 AM	Optimization and Directed, Natural Evolution of Biologically-Mediated Chromate Reduction in Subsurface Soil Microcosms Dorothea Thompson, Purdue University
11:30 AM	Reduction-Oxidation Reactions of Tc-99 in Subsurface Sediments Jim Fredrickson, PNNL
3:00 PM	Update on Groundwater Contamination Issues across the DOE Complex Terry Hazen, LBNL
INTEGRATED FIELD-SCALE SUBSURFACE RESEARCH CHALLENGE (IFRC) PRESENTATIONS OLD RIFLE SITE
3:30 PM	Overview of Results from the Integrated Field-Scale Subsurface Research Challenge Site (IFRC) at Rifle, Colorado Phil Long
3:45 PM	Assessing the Prospects for Metals Remediation During Prolonged Acetate Amendment: Results from the "Big Rusty" Field Experiment Ken Williams
4:10 PM	Evolving Geochemical Conditions Drive Changes in Geobacter Physiology During Stimulated Early-Stage Uranium Bioremediation Jill Banfield
4:30 PM	Uranium Release from Contaminated Sediments at the IFRC Site in Rifle, CO Jim Davis
4:55 PM	Estimating the in situ Rates of Natural Bioreduction of U(VI) at the Rifle IFRC Site Aaron Peacock
5:15 PM	Reactive Transport Modeling: Closing the Knowledge Gaps for Uranium in Biostimulated and Naturally Bioreduced Alluvial Aquifers Steve Yabusaki
6:30 PM	POSTER SESSION III

Thursday, April 23

MOLECULAR SCALE BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
8:30 AM	Molecular Scale Mechanisms of Biogeochemical Electron Transfer Underlying U/Tc Valence Transformation and Stability at Hanford Kevin Rosso, PNNL
9:00 AM	Fundamental Structural/Compositional and Solute Controls Governing Biogenic Uraninite Stability in Ground Water John Bargar, SLAC
9:30 AM	Microbial Interactions with Engineered Nanoparticles Mitch Doktycz , ORNL
SUBSURFACE TRANSPORT SIMULA
10:30 AM	Reactive Transport Modeling of Microbially-Mediated Processes at the Old Rifle and Hanford 100H Sites Carl Steefel, LBNL
11:00 AM	Multiscale-Multiphase-Multicomponent Subsurface Reactive Flows Using Advanced Computing Peter Lichtner, LANL
11:30 AM	Hybrid Numerical Methods of Multiscale Simulations of Biochemical Processes Tim Scheibe, PNNL
12:00 PM	Update on Groundwater Contamination Issues across the DOE Complex Terry Hazen, LBNL