Researchers at PNNL are pursuing new approaches to understand, predict and control the phenome—the collection of biological traits within an organism shaped by its genes and interactions with the environment.
This project sought to assure that research activities centered around different sampling and monitoring efforts in northwest Ohio would not disturb any historical cultural resources.
PNNL and collaborators developed new models—recently approved by the U.S. Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC)—to help utilities understand how new grid-forming inverter technology will enhance grid stability.
PNNL scientists have been studying how rivers and streams breathe. Their research focuses on respiration, organic matter, and natural disturbances that affect rivers and streams.
Understanding the risk of compound energy droughts—times when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow—will help grid planners understand where energy storage is needed most.
The diversity and function of organic matter in rivers at a large scale are influenced by factors, such as the types of vegetation covering the land, the energy characteristics, and the breakdown potential of the molecules.
PNNL led one of five Pathway Summer School programs nationwide, with a specific focus on engaging students from Native American or Indigenous backgrounds.
This study demonstrated that a large-scale flooding experiment in coastal Maryland, USA, aiming to understand how freshwater and saltwater floods may alter soil biogeochemical cycles and vegetation in a deciduous coastal forest.
Microbes that were previously frozen in soils are becoming more active. This study demonstrates the diverse RNA viral communities found in thawed permafrost.
Scientists at PNNL are working to better prepare authorities, emergency responders, communities and the grid in the face of increasingly extreme hurricanes.
Diefenderfer, Earth scientist who focuses on coastal ecosystems at PNNL, recently published “Ten Years of Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Projects Since the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill,” a cover article.
