Office of Science

U.S. Department of Energy

State of BERMay 19, 2008

Anna PalmisanoAssociate Director

Biological and Environmental Research

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U.S. Department of Energy

I. Introduction and Philosophy

II. Budget & Transition Planning

III. Personnel

IV. Science Focus Areas

V. Highlights from Divisions

IV. BERAC Activities: Looking Ahead…

Outline of Talk

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U.S. Department of Energy

An introduction…

• Trained in microbial ecology

• Experience with NIH, NASA, industry

• Program management at Office of Naval Research; led Biomolecular and Biosystems Research Division

• DOE/BER program manager (recruited by Michelle Broido!)

• Deputy Administrator at USDA for Competitive Programs

• Back to BER…

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U.S. Department of Energy

• Unique member of SC portfolio – only program with focus entirely on biological and environmental research

• Acknowledged leadership in key areas (e.g. genomics, climate change, bioenergy, environmental remediation)

• Poised for significant breakthrough research

• Strong team approach to program management

• Robust collaborative efforts with other federal agencies (e.g. climate, plant genomics)

• Distinguished and wise advisory committee!

It’s a great time to be in BER!

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A time of change, a time of opportunity….

• Great people, great programs

• Well-positioned to address major national issues

• Funding that makes a difference

• Recent new investments in bioenergy- getting out front!

• Strong support from SC leadership

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U.S. Department of Energy

My Priorities for BER

• Rebuilding the leadership team after a number of retirements

• Telling the BER “story” – clearly articulating BER science, increasing visibility of our successes

• Building even stronger programs through strategic planning and scientific peer review processes

• Encouraging linkages among programs – cross-cutting themes

• Delivering on investments—post-award management

• Empowering program managers to develop and sustain national programs that provide world leadership

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Building Strong Partnerships

• Stronger collaborations within DOE: – Office of Science: Advanced Scientific Computing

Research; Basic Energy Sciences; Nuclear Physics– Environmental Management– Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

• Productive collaborations with other federal agencies, for example:– Joint activities in biofuel genomics, sustainability– Climate Change Science Program– Strategic Environmental R&D Program (SERDP)

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U.S. Department of Energy

Biological & Environmental Research

$480.1 $544.4 $568.5

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BER Budget Profile

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U.S. Department of Energy

Biological & Environmental Research (BER) (FY 2009=$568.5M)

Biological Research:Biological Research:

• Life Sciences. Three Bioenergy Research Centers continue to accelerate research in biofuels. Genomics: GTL research is enhanced, underpinning biotech solutions for DOE energy/environmental needs. Low dose radiation research activities are enhanced. Genome sequencing at the Joint Genome Institute supports BER goals. Radiochemical and imaging research is enhanced to develop new imaging technologies and new applications for radiotracers in biology and the environment. (FY 2007=$252.5M; FY 2008=$294.7M; FY 2009=$296.2M);

• Medical Applications. Supports fundamental research and instrument

development in imaging for an artificial retina that allows patients to see large objects. (FY 2007=$6.6M; FY 2008=$8.2M; FY 2009=$8.2M)

• Environmental Remediation Research. Providing the scientific basis for understanding DOE's legacy environmental contamination issues; EMSL initiates multi-year program for acquisition of new/improved instrumentation (FY 2007=$91.4M; FY 2008=$93.8M; FY 2009=$98.4M).

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Biological & Environmental Research (BER)

Climate Change Research:Climate Change Research:

• Supports the U.S. Climate Change Science Program to develop, test and improve climate models that simulate the responses of climate to increased atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols.

• Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility adds a second mobile system to obtain observations of clouds and aerosols in poorly understood regions.

• Climate Modeling increases to exploit leadership class computing (FY 2007=$129.6M; FY 2008=$136.9M; FY 2009=$154.9M)

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U.S. Department of Energy

Transition PlanningTransition Planning

What we expect over the next 12 months:

• We are already preparing for, and will be implementing, the transition to a new administration.

• We are planning for a possible FY 2009 Continuing Resolution for 6 months at the FY 2008 level.

• Expectations for the final FY 2009 Appropriated Budget are unknown.

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Personnel Changes and Challenges

Climate Change Research Division:

Jerry Elwood retired after 17 years with DOE, plus 23 years at ORNL

Acting Division Director is currently Mike Kuperberg

Life and Medical Sciences Division:

Acting Division Director is currently David Thomassen

Environmental Remediation Sciences Division:

Acting Division Director is currently Paul Bayer

Rebuilding the leadership team, optimizing structure to enhance communication

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U.S. Department of Energy

• Office of Science (SC) is shifting to an improved approach for managing research at the DOE National Laboratories

• Integrative research programs, rather than individual projects, will be supported

• The new approach challenges Labs to build team-oriented, collaborative research programs in support of SC missions

• National Lab program plans are initially peer-reviewed for scientific merit and relevance; continuing programs require annual progress reporting and tri-annual on-site reviews with external reviewers

• BER is developing SFA best management practices – Todd Anderson is lead.

Scientific Focus Areas (SFAs) for Labs:A New Management Approach

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Life & Medical Sciences DivisionLife & Medical Sciences Division

• COV June 2008 – ensuring we are excellent stewards of science and $

• Partnering with EERE – maximizing impact of GTL & BRC science

• Sustainability workshop Fall 2008 – responsible bioenergy solutions

• JGI review Fall 2008 – excellent service to the community, BER, and DOE

• JGI strategic planning – high throughput sequencing and beyond

• BRC management – aggressive management to maximize success

• Radiochemistry & imaging – balancing BER and community needs

Planning for our future – excellence, stewardship, leadership

Structural Biology Genomics:GTLJoint Genome

InstituteImaging

Low Dose RadiationBioenergy Research

CentersRadiochemistry

Human Subject Protection

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U.S. Department of Energy

• All three BRCs are currently up and running:– Each BRC has FY2008 funding is $25 M + $10 M in FY2007 for start-up)– Hundreds of Ph.D.s, postdocs, and graduate students now at work

on fundamental science to develop a strategy to produce sustainable biofuels on a national scale

• DOE Technical and Management Review, Nov. 2007: – Strong management plans and systems, clear milestones

• BRC Science Coordination Meeting, Feb. 2008:– Aim to foster scientific cooperation and coordination among BRCs– Working groups established in specific areas

• DOE year-end onsite review of BRCs, with outside panels:– BESC – October 14-15– GLBLRC – September 23-24– JBEI – September 29-30

DOE Bioenergy Research Centers -

Status

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• BioEnergy Science Center, led by ORNL– Bio-prospecting in Yellowstone hot pools for new, more

effective cellulases operating at high temperatures (metagenomic analysis using DOE Joint Genome Institute [JGI])

– Creating high-throughput pipeline to screen thousands of genetic variants of switchgrass and poplar for amenability to deconstruction (using genomics-based analysis)

• Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, led by U. Wisconsin– Exploiting 454 sequencing capabilities at JGI to identify

transcription factors in model-plant cell wall biosynthesis– Playing a leading role in the research and public education effort

on biofuels and sustainability

• Joint BioEnergy Institute, led by LBNL– Experimenting with ionic liquids as an alternative pretreatment

method – shortens enzymatic hydrolysis times by factor of 30– Re-engineering E.coli to create hydrocarbons – first steps

toward microbially produced “green” gasoline, diesel, jet fuel

Some Early BRC Research Highlights

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U.S. Department of Energy

• Concerns about impact of corn ethanol on food supply and prices and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions make development of cellulosic biofuels from non-food feedstocks more urgent.

• Understanding and ensuring sustainability of biofuels is essential for successful, next-generation cellulosic biofuels and to winning public acceptance.

Status of Biofuels

• The possibility of moving beyond ethanol and producing hydrocarbon fuels (green gasoline, diesel, and even jet fuel) from plant lignocellulose is being studied.

• Fundamental research is the nation’s best chance of overcoming current cost barriers, has benefits beyond biofuels.

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U.S. Department of Energy FY 2009 President’s Request: Radiochemistry and Imaging

Instrumentation Research

• Reconfiguration will reflect BER's energy and environmental mission focus, areas distinct from NIH focus on developing disease diagnostics and medical therapeutics

• The program will support:– Fundamental research to advance DOE’s mission in biology and

environmental sciences.– New methods for real-time, high-resolution imaging of dynamic

biological processes in environmentally-responsive contexts

• Research will be broadly useful and transferable to other agencies and industry, including nuclear medicine research at the National Institutes of Health.

Goal: Multiple use—multiple benefits from new scientific discoveries

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Radiochemistry and Imaging Instrumentation Research

• BER will organize a workshop (in Fall 2008) to bring together scientists from nuclear medicine, biological and environmental sciences fields

• Workshop will foster discussion on knowledge gaps and opportunities to advance imaging sciences for the reconfigured program, and how to best meet our mission goals

• Dr. Prem Srivastava is lead Program Manager for this activity

• Ongoing intra- and interagency coordination with Office of Nuclear Physics and NIH in isotope production, and radiochemistry research and education.

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Climate Change Research Climate Change Research DivisionDivision

• Jerry Elwood’s retirement – May 9, 2008

• Partner in CCSP – Several Synthesis & Assessment Products (SAP) released

• ARM Mobile Facility deployed in China – May 19, 2008

• Next Generation Ecosystem Experiments Workshop – report earlier today

• Grand Challenges Workshop Spring 2008 – report tomorrow

• Carbon Cycling and Carbon Sequestration Workshop – report tomorrow

• Solicitations in play – Abrupt Climate Change, Integrated Assessment, ARM Science

Basic science to understand, predict and mitigate climate change

Climate Change ForcingClimate Change

ModelingClimate Change

ResponseClimate Change

Mitigation

ARM Science & Infrastructure

Atmospheric Science

Terrestrial Carbon Processes

Information & Integration

Coupled Earth Systems Models

Abrupt Climate Change

Ecosystem Research

Integrated Assessment

Education

Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration

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Environmental Remediation Environmental Remediation Sciences DivisionSciences Division

• Committee of Visitors (COV) review of ERSD Programs

• Chaired by Mike Hochella, mid-January 2008, draft report to BERAC for approval

• Environmental Remediation Sciences Program (ERSP)

• 2007 ERSP solicitation (07-18): 17 multi-institutional awards

• 2008 ERSP solicitation (08-09): 105 proposals submitted, review scheduled

• National Lab Science Focus Area (SFA) Program Plans: submitted and reviewed

• Integrated Field Challenge (IFC) project annual reports: submitted and reviewed

• Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL)

• 2008 User Opportunities solicitation: Science Theme proposals, Computationally Intensive Research proposals and Partner proposals

• ~160 TFlop High Performance Computer System 3 (HPCS-3) on track: Fall 2008

• Field Emission – Chemical Transmission Electron Microscope: Spring 2009

• EMSL review: September 2008

Environmental Remediation Sciences Program (ERSP)

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL)

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BERAC – Vital Contributors to BER

• Strategic thinking – identifying areas of opportunity

• Program reviews, COV’s – staying on the cutting-edge of science

• Science leadership and forward-looking advice

• Visibility—sharing our successes

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Looking ahead….

•JGI working on Strategic Plan – anticipate inviting BERAC to review in Jan.-Feb. 2009

•Climate Change Strategic Plan (after final reports from “Grand Challenges” workshop, “Next Generation of Field Experiments” workshop.) Anticipate inviting BERAC to review early 2009

•COV for Life and Medical Science – status report at next BERAC

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U.S. Department of Energy

Vision for BER

With the advice of BERAC:

• Strong, sustained, highly productive programs

• Remain on the forefront of science

• World leadership in critical DOE relevant areas

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U.S. Department of Energy

Thank you!