Renovation of laboratory instrumentation at the Kellogg Biological Station

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Renovation of laboratory instrumentation at the Kellogg Biological StationA grant has been awarded to Michigan State University under the direction of Drs. G. Philip Robertson and Stephen K. Hamilton to renovate crucial instrumentation used for environmental research at the University's W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS). The instruments will provide an improved abililty to quantify carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other elements in plant, soil, and water samples from various ecosystems around the Station. The new instruments will replace existing ones that are either worn out or obsolete, improving both analytical sensitivity and sample throughput. Many on-going studies, funded by both state and federal agencies at KBS, depend on access to high-quality analytical facilities; the new instruments will fill a major emerging gap in the Station's analytical capacity.Both biogeochemical and ecological research will benefit from the acquisition. Scientific questions to be addressed with the new instrumentation have broad environmental significance. For example, excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the environment are known to harm ecosystems for which they were not intended, with substantial economic impact. A recent economic study placed the costs of these pollutants in the tens of billions of dollars per year for water quality alone; better knowledge of how nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycle in complex landscapes should allow the development of more effective management strategies. Access to high-quality instrumentation is also important for graduate and undergraduate education. KBS is an important environmental teaching facility at MSU and students will use these instruments both in field courses and for their own independent study projects. Additionally the instruments are used in outreach and community education activities - the Four-Township Water Resources Council and the Augusta Creek Watershed Association have both used data from water samples analyzed by KBS laboratories, and the Station also partners with a group of K-12 science teachers who have used the existing instruments in summer science institutes. At a number of levels, then, this NSF award will have a positive impact on environmental research, education, and outreach.