Skip to main content

PNNL

  • About
  • News & Media
  • Careers
  • Events
  • Research
    • Scientific Discovery
      • Biology
        • Computational Biology
        • Ecosystem Science
        • Human Health
          • Cancer Biology
          • Metabolic Inflammatory Diseases
        • Integrative Omics
          • Advanced Metabolomics
          • Chemical Biology
          • Mass Spectrometry-Based Measurement Technologies
          • Spatial and Single-Cell Proteomics
        • Microbiome Science
          • Biofuels & Bioproducts
          • Human Microbiome
          • Soil Microbiome
          • Synthetic Biology
      • Chemistry
        • Catalysis
        • Chemical Physics
      • Earth & Coastal Sciences
        • Atmospheric Science
          • Atmospheric Aerosols
          • Human-Earth System Interactions
          • Modeling Earth Systems
        • Ecosystem Science
        • Plant Science
        • Coastal Science
        • Subsurface Science
        • Terrestrial Aquatics
      • Materials Sciences
        • Solid Phase Processing
        • Science of Interfaces
        • Precision Materials by Design
        • Materials in Extreme Environments
      • Nuclear & Particle Physics
        • Dark Matter
        • Neutrino Physics
        • Flavor Physics
        • Fusion Energy Science
      • Quantum Information Sciences
    • Sustainable Energy
      • Electric Grid Modernization
        • Distribution
        • Emergency Response
        • Grid Analytics
          • AGM Program
          • Tools and Capabilities
        • Grid Architecture
        • Grid Cybersecurity
        • Grid Energy Storage
        • Grid Resilience and Decarbonization
          • Earth System Modeling
          • Energy System Modeling
        • Transmission
      • Energy Efficiency
        • Appliance and Equipment Standards
        • Building Energy Codes
        • Building Technologies
          • Advanced Building Controls
          • Building-Grid Integration
          • Advanced Lighting
        • Building and Grid Modeling
        • Commercial Buildings
        • Federal Buildings
          • Federal Performance Optimization
          • Resilience and Security
        • Grid Resilience and Decarbonization
        • Residential Buildings
          • Energy Efficient Technology Integration
          • Home Energy Score
          • Building America Solution Center
      • Energy Storage
        • Chemical Energy Storage
        • Electrochemical Energy Storage
        • Flexible Loads and Generation
        • Grid Integration, Controls, and Architecture
        • Regulation, Policy, and Valuation
        • Science Supporting Energy Storage
      • Environmental Management
        • Environmental Remediation
        • Waste Processing
        • Radiation Measurement
      • Fossil Energy
        • Carbon Management
          • Carbon Capture
          • Carbon Storage
          • Carbon Utilization
        • Subsurface Energy Systems
        • Advanced Hydrocarbon Conversion
      • Nuclear Energy
        • Reactor Licensing
        • Reactor Operations
        • Fuel Cycle Research
        • Advanced Reactors
      • Renewable Energy
        • Grid Integration of Renewable Energy
        • Hydropower
          • Environmental Performance of Hydropower
          • Hydropower and the Electric Grid
          • Hydropower Cybersecurity and Digitalization
          • Materials Science for Hydropower
          • Pumped Storage Hydropower
          • Water + Hydropower Planning
        • Marine Energy
          • Environmental Monitoring for Marine Energy
          • Marine Biofouling and Corrosion
          • Marine Energy Resource Characterization
          • Testing for Marine Energy
          • The Blue Economy
        • Wind Energy
          • Distributed Wind
          • Offshore Wind
          • Uncertainty Quantification
          • Wildlife and Wind
          • Wind Data Archive and Portal
          • Wind Resource Characterization
        • Geothermal Energy
        • Solar Energy
        • Energy Equity & Health
      • Transportation
        • Vehicle Technologies
          • Emission Control
          • Energy-Efficient Mobility Systems
          • Lightweight Materials
          • Vehicle Electrification
        • Bioenergy Technologies
          • Algal Biofuels
          • Aviation Biofuels
          • Waste-to-Energy and Products
        • Hydrogen & Fuel Cells
    • National Security
      • Chemical & Biothreat Signatures
        • Contraband Detection
        • Explosives Detection
        • Pathogen Science & Detection
          • Threat-Agnostic Biodefense
      • Cybersecurity
        • Discovery and Insight
        • Proactive Defense
        • Trusted Systems
      • Nuclear Material Science
      • Nuclear Nonproliferation
        • Nuclear Explosion Monitoring
        • Nuclear Forensics
        • Radiological & Nuclear Detection
        • Ultra-Sensitive Nuclear Measurements
      • Stakeholder Engagement
        • Disaster Recovery
        • Global Collaborations
        • Legislative and Regulatory Analysis
        • Technical Training
      • Systems Integration & Deployment
        • Additive Manufacturing
        • Deployed Technologies
        • Rapid Prototyping
        • Systems Engineering
      • Threat Analysis
        • Advanced Wireless Security
          • 5G Security
          • RF Signal Detection & Exploitation
        • Climate Security
        • Grid Resilience and Decarbonization
        • Internet of Things
    • Data Science & Computing
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Graph and Data Analytics
      • High-Performance Computing
      • Software Engineering
      • Visual Analytics
      • Computational Mathematics & Statistics
    • Lab Objectives
    • Publications & Reports
    • Featured Research
    • Computing & Analytics
  • People
    • Inventors
    • Diversity
    • Lab Leadership
    • Lab Fellows
    • Staff Accomplishments
  • Partner with PNNL
    • Academia
      • Distinguished Graduate Research Programs
      • Internships
      • Visiting Faculty Program
      • Joint Appointments
      • Joint Institutes
      • Linus Pauling Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship
      • Minority Serving Institutions
    • Community
      • STEM Education
        • Resources
        • Student STEM Ambassadors
        • STEM Ambassadors in the Classroom
      • Philanthropy
      • Volunteering
      • Economic Impact
    • Industry
      • Available Technologies
      • Industry
      • Industry Partnerships
      • Licensing & Technology Transfer
      • Entrepreneurial Leave
  • Facilities & Centers
    • All Facilities
      • Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility
      • Electricity Infrastructure Operations Center
      • Energy Sciences Center
      • Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
      • Grid Storage Launchpad
      • Institute for Integrated Catalysis
      • Interdiction Technology and Integration Laboratory
      • Radiochemical Processing Laboratory
      • PNNL Seattle Research Center
      • PNNL-Sequim
      • Shallow Underground Laboratory

Breadcrumb

  1. Facilities & Centers
  2. All Facilities
  3. Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
Facility

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

A DOE user facility enabling high-impact science and breakthrough research

Jayne Aufrecht looks at a plant growing in the plant lab.

EMSL Linus Pauling Fellow, Jayde Aufrecht, checks on the growth of plant specimens in our plant lab.

Andrea Starr, PNNL

From microbes to molecules, researchers at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory use nature as inspiration to address some of the most critical challenges facing our nation and the world—clean and reliable energy, improved carbon storage capabilities, and controlled biological transformation of environmental contaminants.

Studying nature at the molecular level provides critical information about the drivers of large-scale environmental functions. Our studies of the processes and interdependencies between proteins and other biological molecules help researchers understand how microbes and plants affect soils, watersheds, ecosystems, regional climate, and, ultimately, Earth systems.

Our experts work in partnership with others in the scientific community around the world to apply molecular-level research towards understanding the processes that control how organisms respond to environmental change. Together we are addressing the critical need to produce energy-efficient biofuels and bioproducts using microbes and fungi. We are also studying how nutrients, elements, and contaminants move through and have an impact on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, to create cost-effective, long-term solutions to contaminant management.

EMSL, or the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, is a national scientific user facility funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research. EMSL offers the scientific community a diverse range of unparalleled expertise and advanced instrumentation. Our staff collaborates with researchers from academia, government labs, and industry.

Researchers gain access to EMSL’s capabilities through a peer-reviewed proposal process. Scientists can propose research that utilizes any of EMSL’s experimental instruments, including the high-performance supercomputer. If a proposal is accepted and the scientist publishes in open literature, there is typically no charge for using EMSL services. We encourage you to explore further: emsl.pnnl.gov.

Related Links

Tour EMSLEMSL Home

PNNL

  • Get in Touch
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Doing Business
    • Environmental Reports
    • Security & Privacy
    • Vulnerability Disclosure Program
  • Research
    • Scientific Discovery
    • Sustainable Energy
    • National Security
Subscribe to PNNL News
Department of Energy Logo Battelle Logo
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is managed and operated by Battelle for the Department of Energy
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn