About PNNL
William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
Advances in chemical, biological, physical and computational sciences and technology are critical for addressing many of the nation's significant challenges. The Department of Energy's William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, or EMSL, is a nucleus for the multidisciplinary, fundamental science necessary to enable rapid progress on a number of technical fronts.
EMSL opened in October 1997 as a national scientific user facility where scientists from government laboratories, universities and private industry could access unique instrumentation and collaborate with highly skilled scientists to investigate a broad range of phenomena at the molecular level. The laboratory is a DOE facility located on the campus of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.
At EMSL, scientists address a number of technical challenges of interest to society and of relevance to DOE missions. EMSL encourages fundamental research, which allows scientists to gather the context, understanding and clues essential for advances in energy, new materials, climate and environment, national security, transportation and agriculture.
From the study of individual atoms and molecules to living cells, EMSL scientists are advancing the frontiers of knowledge in biology, the environment and the world.
Research within EMSL accounts for about $30 million a year. Among the highlights:
- New instrumentation created at EMSL allows scientists the first opportunity to analyze, in real time, how live cells respond to environmental contamination, chemotherapy and radiation.
- Nanoscale research makes use of a suite of synthesis tools that can create new materials not found in nature. EMSL's unique approach to synthesis and characterization of exotic materials has led to techniques for fabricating a new class of semiconductor wafers by Motorola, an industrial research partner.
Through understanding the chemical, physical and catalytic properties of porous thin films, scientists have developed innovative methods to modify and control chemical reactions.
EMSL science addresses national security issues through the creation of miniaturized, highly automated instruments that identify the DNA of harmful biotoxins, such as anthrax and salmonella, found in environmental samples. The system works quickly and automatically, therefore eliminating the need for lengthy lab processes.
Using a new virtual lung model developed at PNNL, scientists study how particulates enter the respiratory tract, and where particles reside in the lung, then compare how these factors impact a person's susceptibility to various diseases, including asthma, emphysema and environmental pollutants.
EMSL computational models have enabled teams of researchers to understand contaminant migration for environmental remediation and how carbon can be stored in the soil to minimize global warming.
Because collaboration with outside scientists is essential to EMSL's success, the facility was established to serve as a national resource for scientists and institutions. Communication tools and Internet connections make many of the facility's resources accessible to scientists and engineers anywhere in the world.
The EMSL campus is home to 270 permanent staff, postdoctoral associates, visiting scientists and professors, and students. In 2001, more than 1,400 scientists representing more than 200 national and international organizations used EMSL resources in their research. The 200,000-square-foot research facility and its complement of advanced research equipment have an annual operating budget of about $36 million.
