OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Biological and Environmental 

Systems Science

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL’s) Biological and Environmental Systems 

Science Directorate (BESSD) leads convergence research in biology, ecology, 

engineering, data discovery, physical sciences, and computing to advance 

US competitiveness in the global bioeconomy and Earth system sustainability. 

Our researchers enjoy an open, inclusive, and innovative workplace where they 

collaborate to advance renewable energy solutions, improve Earth system models, 

and push the frontiers of systems and synthetic biology. Focus areas include 

understanding how genes influence ecosystem-level processes; learning more 

about how biodiversity shapes the world around us; developing novel, secure 

biodesign tools and test beds for enzyme engineering; applying the world’s 

fastest supercomputers to transform biological and environmental data into 

knowledge; advancing signature technologies for dynamic characterization of 

complex biological and environmental systems; and applying emerging capabilities 

that promise to transform how science is done through automated, data-rich, and 

interconnected systems. 

Through our R&D, we aim to strengthen the nation’s economic competitiveness, 

enable resilient and sustainable economies, and facilitate stewardship of managed 

and natural resources.

281

Staff

30

Patents in the 

past 5 years

20

Research

groups

1,731

Journal publications in

the past 5 years

4

Governor’s

chairs

“We translate fundamental science discoveries into solutions 

addressing some of society’s greatest challenges, such as climate 

change, clean water, and sustainable communities.”

—Associate Laboratory Director Paul Langan,

Biological and Environmental Systems Science
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle LLC for the US Department of Energy April 2023

Our Research

Environmental Sciences—Our researchers expand scientific knowledge and develop 

innovative strategies and technologies that help sustain Earth’s natural resources. 

Biosciences—Our scientists advance knowledge discovery and develop technology to 

characterize and engineer complex biological systems that benefit the environment and 

our bioeconomy. 

Systems Science at Every Scale

BESSD is home to the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Atmospheric Radiation 

Measurement (ARM) Data Center, which provides cutting-edge computing 

capabilities and data to scientists around the world. The Center for Bioenergy 

Innovation, a DOE Bioenergy Research Center, enables high-impact and value-added 

advances along the bioenergy supply chain. The Climate Change Science Institute

fosters the integration of experiments, measurements, and simulation to achieve a 

predictive understanding of our changing world. The University of Tennessee/ORNL 

Center for Molecular Biophysics explores the structural dynamics of biomolecules by 

uniquely working at the interface of biology, chemistry, and the physical sciences, aided 

by neutron and computational sciences. The ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center 

for Biogeochemical Dynamics provides scientists with access and tools to explore 

terrestrial ecology data from NASA Earth Science missions. 

Recent Impacts

Building upon a rich history of breakthroughs in biology and ecology, BESSD scientists 

are proud to have sequenced the first tree genome, pioneered the field of global change 

biology, and solved the 40-year mystery of how bacteria transform mercury into highly 

toxic methylmercury. Recently, BESSD scientists have

• Established carbon-negative production of acetone and isopropanol by gas

fermentation at industrial pilot scale

• Provided new data to better prepare hydropower operators for extreme

weather events and shifts in seasonal energy demands caused

by climate change

• Validated the presence of alternate genetic coding activity in

bacterial phages for the first time

• Developed and licensed technology that measures solarinduced fluorescence, monitoring plant productivity and health

• Expanded evidence for the ‘bradykinin storm’ hypothesis of

COVID-19 pathogenesis

• Launched new high-performance computing capabilities for the

ARM Data Center to facilitate scientific discovery using 30 years

of atmospheric data

CONTACT

Paul Langan 

Associate Laboratory Director

Biological and Environmental 

Systems Science Directorate

langanpa@ornl.gov

865-574-7839

One Bethel Valley Road, 

Oak Ridge, TN 37831

www.ornl.gov/

bessd

The Spruce and Peatland Responses Under 

Changing Environments experiment assesses 

changes in northern peatland ecosystems 

from increased temperature and elevated 

levels of CO2..

The Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory 

uses an array of imaging capabilities to aid 

scientists in connecting plant gene functions 

to observable traits.