Research
Initiatives
Systems Biology
Nanobiotech
Ecosystem
Response
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Facilities
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Center
for Structural Molecular Biology (CSMB)
CSMB is a user facility anchored on the
cold neutron source at the upgraded High Flux Isotope Reactor
with a small angle neutron scattering instrument dedicated
to biology users. It includes state-of-the-art biological
mass spectrometry, as well as computational biology resources.
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Joint
Institute for Biological Sciences
Recognizing the role of biology in the 21st
century and the desire as well as need to work cooperatively,
ORNL and the University of Tennessee established the Joint
Institute for the Biological Sciences. The Institute's mission
is to promote and develop support for collaborative research
and development in the biological sciences.
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Natural
and Accelerated Bioremediation Research (NABIR) Field Research
Center (FRC)
Established in 2000, the Center is part
of the U.S. Department of Energy's NABIR program. The goal
of the NABIR program is to increase the understanding of
fundamental biogeochemical processes that will advance methods
to remediate and monitor DOE's legacy waste sites contaminated
with metals and radionuclides. The FRC provides field samples
to scientists and hosts major field-scale campaigns involving
scientists, universities, and other national laboratories
to explore how naturally occurring microorganisms and microbial
communities interact with contaminants in the subsurface.
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Mouse
Genetics Research Facility
For over 50 years, the Mouse Genetics Research
Facility (MGRF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
has attracted a highly qualified staff of mouse geneticists
and molecular biologists who use its standard and mutant
strains of laboratory mice for basic research in analyzing
gene function and identifying mouse models of human genetic
disease. In May 2004 the MGRF opened a new, 36,000-ft2 vivarium
on the main ORNL campus at ORNL.
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Walker
Branch Watershed
Located on the ORNL reservation, the 97.5
ha Walker Branch Watershed has been the site of long-term,
intensive environmental studies since the late-1960's by
staff from ORNL and staff from the Atmospheric Turbulence
and Diffusion Division, Air Resources Laboratory, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Their research hasl contributed to a more complete understanding
of how forest watersheds function and has provided insights
into the solution of energy-related problems associated
with air pollution, contaminant transport, and forest nutrient
dynamics. This is one of a few sites in the world characterized
by long-term, intensive environmental studies.
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National
Environmental Research Park
The National Environmental Research Park,
located on the DOE reservation at Oak Ridge, provides over
8,000 ha (20,000 acres) of protected land for research and
education in the environmental sciences. Lying in the heart
of an eastern deciduous forest area of streams and reservoirs,
hardwood forests, and extensive upland mixed forests, the
research park offers the unique advantages of a large information
base, close proximity to educational institutions, and on-site
resources, including the services of environmental scientists
and the field and laboratory facilities at ORNL.
The
Oak Ridge park is one in a DOE network of seven National
Environmental Research Parks. It was designated an international
biosphere reserve in 1989. It is also a unit member of the
Southern Appalachian Biosphere Reserve and part of the Southern
Appalachian Man and the Biosphere (SAMAB) Cooperative.
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Computational
Biology Institute
The Computational Biology Institute (CBI)
combines the expertise of biologists, computer scientists,
and mathematicians with high performance computing to create
and provide tools and infrastructure to advance systems
and computational biology.
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Carbon
Dioxide Information and Analysis Center (CDIAC)
The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center
includes the World Data Center for Atmospheric Trace Gases
and is the primary global-change data and information analysis
center of the U.S. Department of Energy.
CDIAC
responds to data and information requests from users from
all over the world who are concerned with the greenhouse
effect and global climate change. CDIAC's data holdings
include records of the concentrations of carbon dioxide
and other radiatively active gases in the atmosphere; the
role of the terrestrial biosphere and the oceans in the
biogeochemical cycles of greenhouse gases; emissions of
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere; long-term climate trends;
the effects of elevated carbon dioxide on vegetation; and
the vulnerability of coastal areas to rising sea level.
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Atmospheric
Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Data Archive
The ARM Program was created in 1989 with funding
from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Sponsored by DOE's
Office of Science and managed by the Office of Biological
and Environmental Research, ARM is a multi-laboratory, interagency
program, and is a key contributor to national and international
research efforts related to global climate change. A primary
objective of the program is improved scientific understanding
of the fundamental physics related to interactions between
clouds and radiative feedback processes in the atmosphere.
ARM focuses on obtaining continuous field measurements and
providing data products that promote the advancement of climate
models.
The
ARM Archive supports the scientific field experiments of
the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program by storing
and distributing the large quantities of data collected
from these experiments. These data are used to research
atmospheric radiation balance and cloud feedback processes,
which are critical to the understanding of global climate
change.
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ORNL Distributed Active Archive
Center (DAAC)
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive
Center (DAAC) was established in 1993 as part of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Earth Observing System
(EOS) Program. The ORNL DAAC serves as a primary repository for
ground-based biogeochemical dynamics and terrestrial ecological data for
use by global change researchers, policy makers, educators, and the
public. The kinds of data available from the ORNL DAAC include
ground-based and remote-sensing measurements related to biogeochemical
and ecosystem processes. Sources of data include NASA-funded field
campaigns, selected relevant measurements from EOS satellites, and other
biogeochemical dynamics data useful to the global change research
community. In addition, the ORNL DAAC acquires, archives, and
distributes data related to biogeochemical cycling that facilitates
interpretation, processing, and validation of EOS remote-sensing
measurements and data products.
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Bioprocessing
Research User Facility
The Bioprocessing Research User Facility
is a combination of laboratories for the investigation of
advanced bioprocessing concepts using stirred-tank and columnar
bioreactors and a fermentation pilot plant for large-scale
batch and columnar experiments. Research and development
activities include (but are not limited to) feedstock pretreatment
and fractionation, microbial culture selection and improvement,
genetic manipulation; microbial and enzyme immobilization,
advanced bioreactor concepts; biotreatment of wastes, process
feasibility and scaleup, advanced analytical concepts, bioprocessing
monitoring and control, and biochemical separations.
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Dosimetry
Applications Research Calibration Laboratory (DOSAR CalLab)
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Dosimetry Applications Research
Calibration Laboratory (DOSAR CalLab) is managed and operated
by the staff of ORNL's Life Sciences Division for personnel
dosimetry research, dosimetry intercomparison studies, dosimetry
performance test programs, training of health physics personnel,
and radiobiology research.
The DOSAR CalLab is a 260 m2 concrete block building consisting
primarily of a control room, a 6.1 x 7.0 x 4.3-m gamma irradiation
room, a beta/X-ray room which is the same size as the gamma
room, and a low-scatter 9.1 x 9.1 x 5.8-m neutron room.
The CalLab has been outfitted with track systems in each
room for movement of sources or phantoms. These track systems,
which are fitted with digital measuring systems for precise
source-to-target distance measurements, are suspended from
the ceiling and do not interfere with equipment brought
into the facility for performing experiments. CalLab space
is supplemented by an adjacent building which is available
both for storage and for selected low-level irradiations.
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