Our Vision
EcoSENSE aims to develop and deploy novel sensing tools and associated analytical and telemetry capabilities to quantify interactions between key environmental factors and biological functioning within ecosystems across scales, from laboratory to testbed to the field.
What is
EcoSENSE?
EcoSENSE develops a suite of novel-sensing technologies and capabilities at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to explore plant-soil-microbe interactions across scales. EcoSENSE capabilities aim to:
- Reveal the mechanistic basis and consequences of plant-soil-microbe interactions under changing, real-world conditions;
- Seamlessly integrate data and model simulation capabilities to quantify plant-soil-microbe interactions across scales; and
- Synchronize and virtually connect experiments between the laboratory, testbed, and field.
The capabilities developed under EcoSENSE will transform our ability to quantify how biology shapes our environment and how our environment regulates biology.
Exploring Environmental-Biological Feedbacks
Across Scales
BioEPIC, a 73,000 square-foot facility being developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will house research to improve our understanding and prediction of plant-soil-microbe interactions across Earth’s ecosystems. EcoSENSE capabilities:
- Develop novel sensing capabilities including fiber-optic distributed chemical sensing, in-situ voltammetry, Quantum NMR, and remote sensing of biogeochemical processes with VOCs;
- Address the challenges of scaling explorations of plant-soil-microbial interactions from laboratory to the field;
- Support the Watershed Function and Belowground Biogeochemistry Scientific Focus Area projects supported by DOE-BER, which address Plant-Soil-Microbial Interactions Across Scales.
Our Research
EcoSENSE develops novel sensors and sensing capabilities for Berkeley Lab-led explorations into how watersheds function and the role of soils in the global climate system.
Fiber-optic Distributed Chemical Sensing
Fiber-optic distributed sensing enables key physical, chemical, and biological properties of terrestrial and aquatic systems to be quantified in real-time over scales from cm to km.
Tomographic Electrical Rhizospher Imager (TERI)
Novel, non-invasive, electrical signal based root phenotyping tool
Quantum Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Quantum NMR will revolutionize our ability to quantify biochemical dynamics at fine-scale across critical gradients such as root-microbe, and microbe-mineral interfaces.
Biogeochemical Remote Sensing with VOCs
Remote sensing of biogeochemical processes with VOCs provides non-invasive quantification of plant and microbial metabolism in terrestrial ecosystems.
