Natural photosynthetic system teaches us the design principle of how to convert solar energy to chemical energy.  Mastering and controlling spatially and temporally distributed phenomena in dynamically changing energy landscapes requires a combination of manipulating photosynthetic components at the gene level and characterizing under functional conditions with various methods.  Advancing technologies working with user facilities such as JGI, ALS, SSRL, LCLS, TMF is a key to the success of this research.

The photosynthetic systems programs encompass the elucidation of light harvesting, energy transfer, charge transport, and catalytic functions of the natural photosystems. The approach consists of developing and using ultrafast X-ray free electron laser based X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction methods for following the charge transfer and catalytic processes in real time under ambient conditions, multidimensional optical/IR spectroscopy, molecular genetics of photosynthetic organisms, and cryo electron micropscopy for understanding biological systems, using the capabilities of the National User Facilities, including JGI, ALS, SSRL, LCLS, TMF, and NERSC.