A new Global Biomass Resource Assessment developed by ORNL scientists gathered data from 55 countries, shaded in green, resulting in a first-of-its kind compilation of current and future sustainable biomass supply estimates around the world.
International clean energy initiative launches global biomass resource assessment
Daryl Yang standing on a bridge overlooking a pond covered in water lillies
Daryl Yang: Remoting in to take the measure of at-risk ecosystems

Biological and Environmental Systems Science -- About

Advancing understanding of complexity in biological and environmental systems

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Biological and Environmental Systems Science (BESS) Directorate leads convergence research in biology, ecology, engineering, data discovery, physical sciences, and computing to advance U.S. competitiveness in the global bioeconomy and Earth system sustainability.

Our researchers enjoy an open, inclusive, and innovative workplace where they collaborate daily to advance renewable energy solutions, biodiversity research, and push the frontiers of systems and synthetic biology. The future looks equally bright as we understand how genes influence ecosystem-level processes, learn more about how biodiversity shapes the world around us, develop novel biodesign tools and testbeds for enzyme engineering, apply the world’s fastest supercomputers to transform biological and environmental data into knowledge, advance signature technologies for dynamic characterization of complex biological and environmental systems, and apply emerging capabilities that promise to transform how science is done through automated, data rich, and interconnected systems.

Together we can strengthen the nation’s economic competitiveness, enable resilient and sustainable economies, and make possible the stewardship of managed and natural resources.

Contact

Paul A Langan
Associate Laboratory Director
langanpa@ornl.gov
Paul Langan

SYSTEMS SCIENCE AT EVERY SCALE

BESS is home to the DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Data Center, which provides data to scientists from around the world. The Center for Bioenergy Innovation enables high-impact and value-added advances along the bioenergy supply chain. The Climate Change Science Institute fosters the integration of experiments, measurements, and simulation to achieve a predictive understanding of our changing world. The UT/ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics explores the structural dynamics of biomolecules by uniquely working at the interface of biology, chemistry, and the physical sciences, aided by neutron and computational sciences.

Fact Sheet Scientific Advisory Committee

Current Research