Upgrade of LA-ICP-MS for research and education at Western Washington University

This award will provide funding to Western Washington University (WWU) to upgrade an existing but aging inductively-coupled-plasma-mass spectrometer and associated 213 nm laser (LA-ICP-MS) to a significantly-improved LA-ICP-MS system with an advanced 193 nm laser. This instrument will add exciting new opportunities for faculty research, thesis research of undergraduate and graduate students, and course-based research at a dominantly undergraduate institution that has an outstanding record of well-cited publications involving students.

Of the 5 co-principal investigators and 2 senior personnel on this grant, 5 are early career researchers within the first four years of their appointment at WWU and this instrument will significantly enhance their research productivity. The new instrument will support grant-funded research with students that covers topics as broad-ranging as utilization of chemical signatures in volcanic glasses/crystals to discern eruption processes, characterization of deep-Earth materials, timescales and rates of ancient subduction zone processes, transport of plastic nanoparticles in the environment, geochemical signatures in biogenic carbonates as recorders of past climate, ore deposit genesis, abundances of particulate matter pollution, and toxicity of metals in marine and terrestrial systems.

The LA-ICP-MS will continue to be used to promote research and education partnerships via outreach to pre-college students, nearby community colleges and entering WWU freshman with an interest in STEM, but this grant specifically develops new collaborations with nearby Whatcom Community College (WCC) and WWU Geology and Environmental Sciences departments to develop course-based undergraduate research experiences and paid summer research experiences for undergraduates.

The ICP-MS and associated laser upgrade will improve and expand the current high quality and broad scope of research, including NSF-funded projects, conducted within the Geology Department and the College. Replacing the current unsupported instrument is essential to ensure the uninterrupted functioning of our facility, and the new Agilent 7900 ICP-MS will provide significantly improved detection limits, count sensitivity, plasma stability, and handling of laser particles.

A coupled laser, the RESOlution-SE system, will provide a reliable introductory system for non-aqueous samples, which historically make up half of the total samples analyzed at WWU. Specifically, this system will expand the range of materials that can be analyzed (in terms of both composition and size), minimize fractionation, and significantly enhance precision, detection limits, and sample navigation and programming.

It will also provide for an additional LIBS detector permitting periodic table masses at a weight percent to ppm range. These upgrades to the ICP-MS and laser ablation system are necessary for researchers working with nanoparticles and toxins, translucent solid materials (e.g., minerals such as quartz and plagioclase), trace element concentrations below 10 μg/g, small solid samples (