While the primary mission for CEMRC is environmental monitoring in the vicinity of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site, a concerted effort is underway to develop a research effort that supports the WIPP and utilizes the unique capabilities of Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center (CEMRC). The current research effort at CEMRC is a multi-year program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office (DOE/CBFO).

This effort entitled, Low Background Radiation Experiment (LBRE), is supervised by Dr. Geoffrey Smith, a professor of biology at New Mexico State University. 

Currently CEMRC’s scientific activities are organized into five major areas of specialization which are handled by different departments. Although some of the Center’s projects involve only one or two of the program areas, all of the program areas collaborate in carrying out the WIPP Environmental Monitoring program, and this type of integrative research is anticipated to characterize many of the Center’s future projects.

The departments at CEMRC are:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Field Programs
• Internal Dosimetry
• Information Management
• Radiochemistry