Environmental System Science

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The DOE SC program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER) hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for research in Environmental Systems Science (ESS), including Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) and Subsurface Biogeochemical Research (SBR). The goal of the Environmental System Science (ESS) activity in BER is to advance a robust, predictive understanding of the set of interdependent physical, biogeochemical, ecological, hydrological, and geomorphological processes for use in Earth system, ecosystem and reactive transport models. Using an iterative approach to model-driven experimentation and observation, and interdisciplinary teams, ESS-supported scientists work to unravel the coupled physical, chemical and biological processes that control the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and integrated watersheds across critical spatial and temporal scales. This FOA will consider applications that focus on improving the understanding and representation of terrestrial and subsurface environments in ways that advance the sophistication and capabilities of local, regional, and larger scale models. Using new measurements, field experiments, more sophisticated modeling and/or synthesis studies, this FOA will encompass two topic areas: 1) Terrestrial Ecology, specifically linking above and belowground processes, as well as methane biogeochemistry; and 2) Subsurface and Watershed Hydro-biogeochemistry, specifically studying the function and dynamics of hydro-biogeochemical processes within watersheds. All applications are required to clearly delineate an integrative, hypothesis-driven approach and describe the existing needs/gaps in state-of-the-art models. Applicants should provide details on how the results of the proposed research will be used to improve the predictability and sophistication of integrated watershed systems and/or terrestrial ecosystem models.

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