Equipment: MRI:Track 1:Acquisition of instrumentation for ultra sensitive stable isotope measurements for environmental research, education and training in the Central Appalachians

An award is made to the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) to acquire ultra-sensitive instrumentation for stable isotope analysis of small amounts of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur in organic matter to conduct a new frontier of research in paleoecology, wildlife biology, microbial ecology, entomology, food web biology, and biogeochemistry. This acquisition will stimulate multi-disciplinarily collaborations among early career and established scientists at UMCES, Lehigh University, Northern Vermont University, Salisbury University, and West Virginia University.

It will also (1) contribute to the career development and training of undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers from underserved populations in the central Appalachians and elsewhere, (2) facilitate a new short course focused on advanced hands-on training in stable isotope laboratory methods, and (3) provide the broader scientific community with access to a unique analytical capacity. Societal benefits of the project include workforce training and job creation and improved conservation and management of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Slight differences in mass are the basis for stable isotope ratio variations of elements, which act as recorders of ecological and biogeochemical processes. Analysis of the stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur in organic material using an elemental analyzer (EA) interfaced with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) is routine in modern stable isotope analytical laboratories.

However, conventional EA-IRMS analysis requires relatively large samples, and it cannot perform simultaneous measurements of the stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur for materials with low concentrations of one element and high concentrations of another. The acquired instrumentation will help to overcome these limitations, thus advancing environmental research on a diversity of topics.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.