Biological and Environmental Research, Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences Division (formerly Climate and Environmental Sciences Division) Strategic Plan: 2018–2023
The Climate and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) is managed within the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science. CESD is the intellectual home for fundamental research needed to address key uncertainties arising from the interactions and interdependencies of the atmospheric, terrestrial, subsurface, cryospheric, oceanic, and human-energy components of the Earth system. Using an approach to enhance system predictability, CESD-supported research strives to understand and anticipate how environmental stressors behave within a nonlinear system. These stressors, in turn, can influence the robustness and resilience of U.S. energy infrastructures. Particular emphasis also is placed on understanding how natural and human-derived factors contribute to variabilities and trends spanning local to global scales. By treating DOE environmental challenges as part of the Earth system, CESD also addresses DOE’s unique concerns regarding energy contaminants and wastes. The scope of CESD process research spans scales from molecular to global and durations from nanoseconds to many decades, in order for DOE to achieve its goals involving foundational science, environment, energy, economic, and security.