BER science is vital to the nation's energy security and environmental future. Its mission is to understand complex biological, climatic, and environmental systems across time and space at scales ranging from nanoseconds to millennia, from submicron to global, and from individual molecules to ecosystems. BER science programs explore the frontiers of genome-enabled biology; discover the physical, chemical and biological drivers of climate change; and seek the biological, geochemical, and hydrological determinants of environmental sustainability and stewardship.
For more than 50 years, BER has advanced world-class biological and environmental research programs and scientific user facilities to support DOE environment, energy, and basic research missions. BER's foundational science is underpinning the development of cellulosic biofuels as major secure national energy resources. Other BER priorities include understanding relationships between climate change and Earth's ecosystems, assessing options for carbon biosequestration, predicting the fate and transport of contaminants in subsurface environments, and developing new tools to explore the interface of biological and physical sciences.
Jan 30, 2013
Plants, Fungi, and Microbes: Symbiosis in Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form intimate affiliations with the roots of many plant types. [more...]
Jan 17, 2013
New Analytical Tool Enables Switchgrass Improvement
Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a prime
bioenergy feedstock candidate due to its h [more...]
Jan 16, 2013
Marginal Lands: A Valuable Resource for Sustainable Bioenergy
Production
Growing plants on marginal lands, or lands
unsuitable for conventional agricultural crops, i [more...]
Jan 01, 2013
New Insights into Cloud Entrainment Processes
As a cloud grows, air outside the cloud is entrained, or drawn into the cloud due to turbulent mo [more...]
Dec 09, 2012
Using Synchrotron Spectroscopy to Understand How a Protein Evolves
A major challenge in research to enable large-scale production of biofuels is developing enzymes [more...]