modeling the impact of trace metals on biogeochemical cycles

Making the connection between molecular and global scales is Cebic's reason for being. We're doing molecular-scale science not just for its own sake but to elucidate the global flow of carbon, nitrogen, and other elements from one form and place to other forms and places, and back again. We need a tool that will allow us to piece together our new molecular insights into a global picture, to quantitatively connect Cebic's molecular-level insights with the fate and transport of important elements on a global scale. The best tool available is computer modeling.

Models exist of the global flow of matter from state to state and place to place. Though these models have increased in sophistication in recent years, they incorporate molecular details in a phenomenological manner. They make assumptions that seem reasonable, but are not solidly, quantitatively supported by molecular-scale science. Up to now it hasn't been possible to do better, because not much was known about the molecular scale processes underlying global cycles. But the needed information is starting to trickle in, from Cebic and elsewhere, so it is important to be ready to rigorously incorporate this new knowledge into fate and transport models. This is the final piece of the cebic puzzle.

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