ICON science is a Department of Energy-developed framework to enhance scientific outcomes via more intentional design of research efforts across all domains of science.

A novel ecological measurement uncovered interactions between river corridor organic matter assemblages and microbial communities, highlighting potentially important microbial taxa and molecular formula types.

Measurements of forest after an anomalous seawater exposure event reveals carbon starvation as dominant process underlying deaths.

Soil pores are reorganized when newly thawed permafrost soils experience freeze-thaw cycling.

Research from the PNNL-led WHONDRS consortium reveals chemistry and spatial gradients of metabolomes from river water and sediments around the globe.

Soil moisture influences both the activity of soil DNA viruses, as well as the composition and abundance of RNA viruses.

A new microbial community model reveals previous exposure to hydrologic variation influences a species’ specialized biogeochemical functions.

Detailed characterization of molecules in, under, and along the Columbia River reveal potential mechanisms for biogeochemical cycling.

Integrating hydrogeology and biogeochemistry are required to model the dynamics of geochemical processes occurring in river corridor zones where groundwater and surface water mix.

Theoretical analysis reveals flow variations that happen over longer time periods affect a plume’s spread and center of mass.

Knowing which bacteria in a community are involved with carbon cycling could help scientists predict how microbial carbon storage and release could influence future climate dynamics.

Research shows that previous drought and flooding conditions strongly influence soil respiration and carbon composition.

Principles derived from coastal wetlands to describe wetland channel cross-sections were applicable to the Columbia River estuary, but not the tidal river.

Understanding the fundamental relationships between river flow, water exchange, and nutrient cycling can inform ecosystem effects of river regulation.

Variability in field measurement conditions likely does not impact estimates of an important flux in the global carbon cycle.

Researchers propose and test foundational concepts for the new subdiscipline of “meta-metabolome ecology.”

Microbiome and soil chemistry characterization at long-term bioenergy research sites challenges idea that switchgrass increases carbon accrual in surface soils of marginal lands.

New biogeochemical modeling uses high-resolution mass spectrometry data to reveal how organic matter thermodynamics affect ecosystems across scales.

The map fills in a portion of the study site missing from sampling studies and enables a better understanding of hydrological dynamics in a complex river corridor.

Ecosystem feedback fire model opens new investigative pathways into impacts of fire on future climate.