RUI/MRI: Acquisition of Equipment to Support Research and Undergraduate Training in Aquatic Science

威斯康星大学拉克罗斯分校（University of Wisconsin-La Crosse）的河流研究中心（Center）获得了一笔拨款，用于购置设备，以支持水生科学的研究和本科生培训。Drs。Saros, Haro， Rolfhus和Sandheinrich将监督这项研究。该中心成立于1972年，旨在促进该大学参与与密西西比河上游有关的环境和资源管理问题的科学研究。随后，它将研究活动扩展到威斯康星州、中西部上游和全国的其他水生资源，为近100名研究生和250多名本科生提供了研究机会。该中心因其对河流、溪流、湖泊和湿地非点源污染物的调查而享誉全国。该中心正在进行的研究集中于两种污染物，即氮（作为基本元素）和汞（一种剧毒金属），这两种污染物造成了水生资源的广泛退化。该中心的成员目前正在探索大气氮沉降可能改变美国西部高山湖泊群落的程度，并正在调查地下水/地表水相互作用如何影响中西部上游多种土地管理实践下流域的氮动态和输出。该中心的汞调查正在评估控制旅行者国家公园湖泊食物网中甲基汞污染的景观因素，南部苏必利尔湖近岸环境中甲基汞的产生和积累，以及甲基汞暴露与野生鱼类内分泌干扰物之间的联系。总的来说，该中心对非点源污染物的调查为水生科学的研究生和本科生提供了广泛的研究机会。拨款将用于购买设备，以进一步提高中心在非点源污染调查和水生科学教育学生方面的能力。水化学和水生食物网的分析是了解湖泊和溪流中非点源污染的来源和影响的关键。氮富集可以改变食物网的组成和动态，而人类和野生动物对甲基汞的暴露是通过水生食物网发生的。通过这笔拨款购买的设备包括一台元素分析仪，用于测量水生生物中各种营养物质的比例，以及一台总有机碳分析仪，用于量化溶解有机碳，这是影响无机汞和甲基汞向水生生物的运输和可用性的重要因素。两台显微镜将增强中心的成像能力，一台自动汞分析仪和温控浴将增强中心测定水、沉积物和水生生物中汞的能力。这些活动的多样性和广泛性将促进对与氮和汞非点源污染有关的若干问题的了解。从生态和人类健康的角度来看，水生生态系统的氮富集和汞污染是区域和国家迫切关注的问题。购置这一设备将促进跨一系列生态、地质和化学特征的水生生态系统结果的综合；这些信息将帮助管理者和科学家做出更明智的决定。此外，该设备将提高中心教师的研究水平，他们的科学资历和积极性确保了获得水产科学研究资金支持的竞争力。此外，这些设备将进一步加强许多本科生和研究生的培训和研究，他们将从设备齐全的科学设施中受益。

A grant has been awarded to the River Studies Center (Center) at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for the acquisition of equipment to support research and undergraduate student training in aquatic science. Drs. Saros, Haro, Rolfhus, and Sandheinrich will oversee the research. The Center was established in 1972 to facilitate the University's scientific involvement with environmental and resource-management issues pertinent to the Upper Mississippi River. Subsequently, it has expanded its research activities to other aquatic resources in Wisconsin, the Upper Midwest and the nation, providing research opportunities to nearly 100 graduate students and more than 250 undergraduates. The Center has become nationally recognized for its investigations of non-point source pollutants in rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands. Ongoing studies in the Center are focusing on two pollutants, nitrogen (as essential element) and mercury (a highly toxic metal), which have caused widespread degradation of aquatic resources. Members of the Center are currently exploring the extent to which atmospheric N deposition may be altering alpine lake communities in the western U.S. and are investigating how groundwater/surface water interactions affect N dynamics and export in watersheds under multiple land management practices in the Upper Midwest. The Center's mercury investigations are assessing landscape factors controlling methylmercury contamination in food webs of lakes of Voyageurs National Park, the production and accumulation of methylmercury in nearshore environments of southern Lake Superior, and the linkages between methylmercury exposure and endocrine disruptors in wild fish. Collectively, the Center's investigations of non-point source pollutants provide a broad array of research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students of aquatic science. The grant will support the purchase of equipment to further enhance the Center's capabilities in investigations of non-point source pollution and education of students in aquatic sciences.Analyses of water chemistry and aquatic food webs are critical to understanding the source and effects of non-point source pollution in lakes and streams. Nitrogen enrichment can alter the composition and dynamics of food webs, whereas the exposure of humans and wildlife to methylmecury occurs via the aquatic food web. The equipment purchased through this grant includes an elemental analyzer to measure ratios of various nutrients in aquatic organisms, and a total organic carbon analyzer to quantify dissolved organic carbon, an important factor influencing the transport and availability of inorganic mercury and methlmercury to aquatic organisms. Two microscopes will enhance the Center's imaging capabilities An automated mercury analyzer and temperature-controlled bath will enhance the Center's ability to determine mercury in water, sediment, and aquatic organisms. The variety and extensive nature of theses activities will promote the understanding of several issues related to non-point source pollution by nitrogen and mercury. Nitrogen enrichment and mercury contamination of aquatic ecosystems are problems of pressing regional and national concern, both from an ecological and human health perspective. The acquisition of this equipment will foster the synthesis of results among aquatic ecosystems that span an array of ecological, geological, and chemical characteristics; this information will aid managers and scientists in making more informed decisions. Moreover, the equipment will enhance the research of Center faculty, whose scientific credentials and motivation ensure competitiveness in obtaining financial support for research in aquatic science. In addition, the equipment will further enhance the training and research of the many undergraduate and graduate (M.S.) students who will benefit from ready access to well-equipped, scientific facilities.