INL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Science

Geosciences

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Overview

Geoscience research at INL is

conducted through the

Geosciences, and Modeling

and Measurements Departments, and focuses on six

mutually supportive activities:

• Coupled reactive transport

of chemical species

• Environmental (atmospheric, surface, and

subsurface) fate and

transport modeling

• Energy research and

development

• Sensing and imaging of

the subsurface environment

• Environmental site

characterization and

remediation

• Air-pollutant measurement

and transport.

These activities or focus areas

capitalize on core INL

technical strengths in hydrology, geochemistry, reservoir

engineering, geology, soil

physics, atmospheric science,

geophysics and seismology.

Although much of the work is

related to understanding

physical-chemical processes

and the ultimate fate of

contaminants and fluids in the

subsurface, each area addresses unique problems and

supports a varied customer

base.

Capabilities of the two

geosciences departments have

been significantly increased in

the last three years by acquisition of new Ph.D.-level staff

through funding and in

support of subsurface science

research. The geosciences

department will continue to

support subsurface science

research in the future. With

the creation of the

Geocentrifuge Research

Laboratory, INL gained a

new, unique research tool to

be applied to scientific and

engineering problems.

Services

Geosciences provides basic

and applied research, technology development and deployment, and technical consultation and support to various

Department of Energy (DOE)

offices including Science,

Fossil Energy, and Energy

Efficiency, and to other DOE

sites. This research also

performs work for the

The Actidyn Systemes Model

C61-3 civil engineering

centrifuge is used to study, in

hours or days, the effects of

decades of gravity-induced

fluid movement in the

subsurface.
INL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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05-GA50193-21

For more information

INL is a U.S. Department of

Energy national laboratory

operated by Battelle Energy

Alliance

Environmental Protection

Agency, Bureau of Reclamation, and Army Corps of

Engineers, and supports the

Idaho Cleanup Project. INL

foresees additional opportunities with all of these customers.

Future Geosciences goals

include:

• Continue to provide

technical expertise and

support to the Idaho

Cleanup Project and to

other operations of DOE’s

Office of Environmental

Management

• Maintain expertise and

funding for fundamental

geoscience research in

support of subsurface

science and missions of

DOE’s Office of Science

• Expand programs in

geophysics and reservoir

engineering in support of

DOE’s Offices of Fossil

Energy and Energy

Efficiency and of various

departments in other

federal agencies

• Support INL’s nuclear

energy mission by providing earth science expertise

for reactor siting studies

• Expand programs in

surface and atmospheric

research to contribute to

current and future science

needs of regulatory

agencies and industry

• Develop programs and

enhance existing relationships with other federal

agencies including the

Department of Defense

and the Environmental

Protection Agency

• Develop new business

areas that synergistically

combine the basic and

applied research capabilities of geosciences with

those of other INL

programs.

Melinda Hamilton, Ph.D.

Director, Life and Earth

Sciences

(208) 526-0948

Melinda.Hamilton@inl.gov

Mark D. Ankeny, Ph.D.

Manager, Geosciences

Department

(208) 526-5748

Mark.Ankeny@inl.gov

Greg Stormberg

Manager, Modeling and

Measurement Department

(208) 526-1241

Gregory.Stormberg@inl.gov