Technical Support for the New MC-ICP-MS Laboratory at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

EAR-0348948约翰逊该奖项将奖励一名技术人员，他将在伊利诺伊大学香槟分校(UIUC)由美国国家科学基金会资助的新的多收集器电感耦合等离子体质谱仪(MC-ICP-MS)设施中发挥关键作用。该设施将用于进行高精度的同位素比率测量，这在UIUC由NSF支持的地质学、人类学和环境化学几个领域的研究中至关重要。仪器的具体应用包括：n追踪地下水和地表水中涉及到潜在有毒的硒、铬和汞的化学反应n揭示岩浆产生和迁移到地球表面的过程n确定保存气候变化记录的地球材料的年龄n确定造山事件的年龄和追踪人类祖先和考古文物的迁移过程n技术人员将是负责协调仪器的正确操作和高效使用的中心人员，并将使该设施能够服务于一个庞大且高度多样化的学生和研究人员社区。MC-ICP-MS将很难运行，但在全职技术人员提供的设置和监督帮助下，经验较少的用户可以成功地分析自己的样品。拟设的技术人员将负责启动用户、为一些用户配置仪器、评估和维护仪器的稳定性、进行维护和校准、建议和协助外部用户进行样品准备，以及为无法分析自己样品的外部用户执行有限数量的常规分析。技术人员的努力将极大地增加该乐器的教育影响，使更多的用户能够亲身接触到该乐器，并使其能够在课堂上使用。来自私家侦探团队以外的研究生和其他研究人员将从技术支持中受益匪浅，这将使他们能够通过有限的培训获得高质量的分析。本科生的研究同样将在更大程度上依赖于技术人员的努力。

EAR-0348948JohnsonThis award will support a technician who will play a key role in the new NSF-funded multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) facility at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). The facility will be used to make high-precision isotope ratio measurements, which are critical in NSF-supported research in several areas of Geology, Anthropology, and Environmental Chemistry at UIUC. Specific applications of the instrument include:n Tracing chemical reactions involving potentially toxic selenium, chromium, and mercury in ground water and surface watern Revealing the processes through which magmas are generated and migrate toward the earth's surfacen Determining ages of earth materials that hold records of climate change n Determining ages of mountain-building events and the processes involved in themn Tracing migration of human ancestors and archaeological artifacts The technician will be the central person charged with coordinating the proper operation and efficient use of the instrument, and will enable the facility to serve a large and highly diverse community of students and researchers. The MC-ICP-MS will be difficult to run, but with assistance in setup and oversight afforded by a full-time technician, less experienced users can analyze their own samples successfully. The proposed technician will be responsible for getting users started, configuring the instrument for some users, evaluating and maintaining the stability of the instrument, performing maintenance and calibration, advising and assisting outside users with sample preparation, and performing a limited number of routine analyses for outside users who cannot analyze their own samples. The efforts of the technician will greatly increase the educational impact of the instrument, allowing a wider range of users hands-on access to the instrument and enabling its use in classes. Graduate students and other researchers from outside the P.I.s' groups will greatly benefit from technical support that will enable them to obtain high-quality analyses with limited training. Undergraduate research will be similarly reliant on the efforts of the technician, to an even greater extent.