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Media Contacts
![The ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolor, shown in green, envelops the roots of a transgenic switchgrass plant. Switchgrass is not known to interact with this type of fungi naturally; the added PtLecRLK1 gene tells the plant to engage the fungus. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-09/fungi_switchgrass_0.png?h=4bcd3c64&itok=6SCoAprD)
An ORNL team has successfully introduced a poplar gene into switchgrass, an important biofuel source, that allows switchgrass to interact with a beneficial fungus, ultimately boosting the grass’ growth and viability in changing environments.
![Deeksha Rastogi uses high-performance computing to understand the human impacts of climate change. Credit: Carlos Jones, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-09/2021-P06173_0.jpg?h=6881dff6&itok=IbKJui6N)
An international problem like climate change needs solutions that cross boundaries, both on maps and among disciplines. Oak Ridge National Laboratory computational scientist Deeksha Rastogi embodies that approach.
![Researchers at Colorado State University and ORNL evaluated 14 urban megaregions to simulate the effects of climate change on water resources. Credit: CSU/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-09/hydrology_map03_Kao_0.png?h=06037b31&itok=y1CKG8fX)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory worked with Colorado State University to simulate how a warming climate may affect U.S. urban hydrological systems.
![As part of the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic project, scientists are gathering and incorporating new data about the Alaskan tundra into global models that predict the future of our planet. Credit: ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-08/NGEE_eddy%20covariance%20Busey.jpg?h=2d5be524&itok=VFtVDdzq)
Improved data, models and analyses from ORNL scientists and many other researchers in the latest global climate assessment report provide new levels of certainty about what the future holds for the planet
![A new tool that simulates the energy profile of every building in America will give homeowners, utilities and companies a quick way to determine energy use and cost-effective retrofits that can reduce energy and carbon emissions.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-08/VirtualEPB_map_models_0.jpg?h=0c7f5a21&itok=rRhlQQ4F)
A new tool that simulates the energy profile of every building in America will give homeowners, utilities and companies a quick way to determine energy use and cost-effective retrofits that can reduce energy and carbon emissions.
![ORNL metabolic engineer Adam Guss develops genetic tools to modify microbes that can perform a range of processes needed to create sustainable biofuels and bioproducts. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-08/2021-P05224.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=_5e3ckBD)
As a metabolic engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Adam Guss modifies microbes to perform the diverse processes needed to make sustainable biofuels and bioproducts.
![This spring, Brood X cicadas emerged from the ground after 17 years burrowed and swarmed across the eastern United States, leaving a trail of exoskeletons and echoes of mating calls. Cicadas emerge in such large quantities to withstand predation and successfully maintain their populations, and trees actually play a key role in their life cycle. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-07/2021-P05177_0.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=070G3Zdi)
On the road leading to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, drivers may notice that many of the green trees lining the entrance to the lab are dappled with brown leaves. Just weeks past the summer solstice, this phenomenon is out of place and is in fact evidence of another natural occurrence: cicada “flagging.”
![Researchers studying secondary metabolites in the fungus Aspergillus flavus, pictured, found unique mixes of metabolites corresponding to genetically distinct populations. The finding suggests local environmental conditions play a key role in secondary metabolite production, influencing the discovery of drugs and other useful compounds. Credit: Tomás Allen Rush/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-07/DSC0351.jpg?h=b2d9f031&itok=PNgYY5eW)
Scientists at ORNL and the University of Wisconsin–Madison have discovered that genetically distinct populations within the same species of fungi can produce unique mixes of secondary metabolites, which are organic compounds with applications in
![A team of scientists found that microbes at the SPRUCE experiment in the Minnesota peatlands are increasing production of methane under warming conditions. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-07/spruce_0.jpg?h=c282529e&itok=VExEOgns)
Scientists studying a unique whole-ecosystem warming experiment in the Minnesota peatlands found that microorganisms are increasing methane production faster than carbon dioxide production.
![ORNL’s Josh Michener, a microbiologist and metabolic engineer, led the discovery of a useful new enzyme that breaks down stubborn bonds in lignin, a polymer found in plants that typically becomes waste during bioconversion. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-06/2019-P05683_0.jpg?h=4c5cadcc&itok=FSVdbEYP)
In a step toward increasing the cost-effectiveness of renewable biofuels and bioproducts, scientists at ORNL discovered a microbial enzyme that degrades tough-to-break bonds in lignin, a waste product of biorefineries.