Meister selected for for collaborative research program

The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, has selected Assistant Professor Konrad Meister (Department of Chemistry) for its 2027 Facilities Integrating Collaborations for User Science (abbreviated as FICUS) program. Meister's was among the 10 projects selected, alongside other principal investigators from R1 research universities across the nation.

Meister's project, "Molecular Origin of Fungal Ice Nucleation," seeks to understand the molecular diversity and mechanisms of fungal ice nucleators, which influence clouds, precipitation and water availability. It will build on his existing work studying ice-nucleating proteins, which make it possible for ice to form at the temperature we all recognize, 32 F or 0 C. Without these proteins or other ice nucleators, water freezes at a much colder temperature.

A thorough understanding of ice nucleation lets us control the temperature where liquid water freezes. This is essential for applications in biochemistry, but also for recreational uses like snowmaking for ski resorts.

FICUS began in 2014 as a program to accelerate ambitions research projects, like Meister's. Principal investigators whose projects are selected receive access to world-class investigative resources at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Joint Genome Institute, National Ecological Observatory Network, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.

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