PROGRAM AREA OVERVIEW

OFFICE OF BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH

The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Program supports fundamental, peer-reviewed research in climate change, environmental remediation, genomics, systems biology, radiation biology, and medical sciences. BER funds research at public and private research institutions and at DOE laboratories. BER also supports leading edge research facilities used by public and private sector scientists across a range of disciplines: structural biology, DNA sequencing, functional genomics, climate science, the global carbon cycle, and environmental molecular science.

BER has a particular interest in the following areas:

(1) Climate Change research aimed at the development of advanced climate models to describe and predict the roles of oceans, the atmosphere, ice and land masses on climate over time and research to understand how carbon dioxide moves through the environment, ways to increase its removal from the atmosphere, and its impacts on the Earth’s climate and ecosystems.

(2) Environmental Remediation research aimed at the development of advanced treatment options for nuclear waste, thereby extending the frontiers of biological and chemical methods for remediation, including the use of Earth’s own microbe-based clean-up strategies; this research will yield science-based strategies to reduce the costs, risks, and time for cleanup of DOE sites contaminated from years of weapons research.

(3) Medical Sciences research aimed at the development of advanced imaging and other medical technologies including highly sensitive radiotracer detectors, radiopharmaceuticals, and new technologies such as an artificial retina that will give vision to the blind.

(4) Life Sciences research aimed at the development of innovative solutions along unconventional paths to solve challenges in energy and the environment. Research is focused on understanding nature’s remarkable array of multi-protein molecular machines and the intricate workings of complex microbial communities; and on enabling us to use and even redesign these microbial machines and communities to produce clean energy, remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and cleanup the environment. This program also supports research to understand the biological effects of low doses of radiation.

For additional information regarding the Office of Biological and Environmental Research priorities, click here.

TOPICS:

3. Atmospheric Measurement Technology

a. Measurements of the Chemical Composition of Carbonaceous Aerosols

b. Instrumentation for Characterizing Atmospheric Aerosols

c. Oxygen A-band Spectrometer for Photon Pathlength Measurements

d. Measurement of the Size Distribution of Water Drops in Clouds

4. Medical Sciences

a. Development of Novel Probes for Biomedical Applications

b. Radiopharmaceutical Development for Radiotracer Diagnosis and Targeted Molecular Therapy

c. Advanced Imaging Technologies

5. Genomics: Genomes to Life and Related Biotechnologies

a. Genome Scale Reagent Sets

b. Proteomics

c. Instrumentation for Single Macromolecule Analysis and Control

d. Informatics

6. Measurement/Monitoring and Characterization Technologies for the Subsurface Environment
a. Mapping Hydrogeologic Processes in the Shallow Subsurface

b. Real-Time, In Situ Biogeochemistry Measurements in Soils, Subsurface Sediments, Biofilms, or Groundwater

c. Sensor Technology for Monitoring Tank or Landfill Waste

7. Biological Solutions and Technologies for Reducing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

a. Sequestration of Carbon by Plant-Soil and Aquatic Systems

b. Microbe-Based Carbon Sequestration in Harsh Environments

c. Microbe-Based Hydrogen Production

8. Carbon Cycle Measurements of the Atmosphere and the Biosphere

a. Sensors and Techniques for Measuring Terrestrial Carbon Sinks and Sources

b. Novel Measurements of Organic Carbon and its Isotopes in Terrestrial and Atmospheric Media

Return to the Complete List of Topics.