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Stan Wullschleger, associate laboratory director for biological and environmental systems science at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is the recipient of the 2022 Commitment to Human Diversity in Ecology Award from the Ecological Society of America.

Because next-generation biofuels will depend on the growth and hardiness of woody feedstocks, scientists have sought to better understand how leaf cells quickly respond to environmental cues such as light, temperature and water. Scientists at the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, have studied rapid molecular changes in leaves from poplar trees during normal daily cycles of daylight and darkness. Until now, the effect of these modifications at the cellular protein level was not well understood, partly because of the technical limitations of the analytical tools available.

Tackling the climate crisis and achieving an equitable clean energy future are among the biggest challenges of our time. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the largest Department of Energy science and energy laboratory in the country, is deeply invested in the big science capabilities and expertise needed to address the climate challenge on multiple fronts.

Researchers from Sandia, ORNL, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville used neutron scattering and additional experimental techniques to study a series of materials called metal organic frameworks (MOFs) made from the entire list of rare earth elements. The researchers established a comprehensive approach to evaluating large numbers of MOFs and also made an important discovery about a defect that can be useful in building technologies to mitigate toxic gases such as nitrogen and sulfur dioxides.

At the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, biogeochemist Elizabeth Herndon is working with colleagues to investigate a piece of the Earth's carbon cycle puzzle that has received little attention thus far: the role of manganese in soils.

ORNL story tips: Supply chain crunch, safer batteries on impact and lithium light bright

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory physicists Christian Bauer, Marat Freytsis, and Benjamin Nachman have leveraged an IBM Q quantum computer through the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s Quantum Computing User Program to capture part of a calculation of two protons colliding. The calculation can show the probability that an outgoing particle will emit additional particles.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists used protoplast fusion to create enough genetically disparate Bacillus strains to facilitate mapping of the bacterial genome, which advances the efficient engineering of microbes for efficient biofuel processing.

ORNL story tips: Clean water bots, self-sanitizing N95 masks, cooking with hydrogen

The rapid pace of global climate change has added urgency to developing technologies that reduce the carbon footprint of transportation technologies, especially in sectors that are difficult to electrify. In response, researchers collaborating through the Center for Bioenergy Innovation make the case that scientific advances support a hybrid approach using biological and catalytic methods for producing cellulosic biofuel for use in airplanes, ships and long-haul trucks.