Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer for Interdisciplinary Geochemical and Microbiological Research and Education

电感耦合等离子体光学发射光谱法（ICP-OES）是一种强大而可靠的方法，可以从各种浓度的水样品中获得元素丰度数据，包括主要（即%）和痕量（ppm-ppb）水平。西密歇根大学（WMU）地球科学系获得的ICP-OES系统将极大地增强目前正在进行的广泛的地球化学和微生物研究，并将深刻地扩展未来研究工作的潜力。WMU是一所以学生为中心的研究型大学（卡内基一类），致力于学生在本科和研究生阶段参与原创性研究。这项支持ICP-OES系统的拨款直接增强了WMU教师和学生在地质、化学和生物学科领域的研究，包括目前由美国国家科学基金会、美国化学学会石油研究基金和美国环境保护署资助的项目。一些将立即受益于这种工具的具体项目包括：(1)复杂矿物组合上金属吸附的实验室研究和大型动物洞穴壁上金属积累的实地研究；(2)异化金属还原细菌与溶解金属和金属有机配合物的相互作用研究；(3)固体废物填埋场中水地球化学与甲烷外排的关系研究；(4)铜运输p型APTases的分子机制研究。(5)国内外对地下水质量和盐碱化过程的实地研究；(6)金属调节离子泵在细菌代谢中的作用的研究。这些研究将提高对社会相关问题的理解，包括：预测重金属在环境中的运输和生物利用度，导致垃圾填埋场温室气体排放的机制，导致农业用地盐碱化的做法，地下水卫生，以及与威尔逊病发展有关的蛋白质的功能。

EAR-0446565KoretskyInductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) is a robust and reliable method of obtaining elemental abundance data from aqueous samples at a wide range of concentrations, including major (i.e. %) and trace (ppm-ppb) levels. Acquisition of an ICP-OES system by the Department of Geosciences at Western Michigan University (WMU) will tremendously enhance a wide range of geochemical and microbiological investigations currently underway, and will profoundly expand the potential for future research efforts. WMU is a student-centered research university (Carnegie category one) with a commitment to student engagement in original research at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This grant in support of an ICP-OES system directly enhances faculty and student research at WMU across a diverse range of geologic, chemical and biological disciplines, including projects currently funded by the National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Some of the specific projects that will immediately benefit from this instrumentation include: (1) laboratory studies of metal adsorption on complex mineral assemblages and field studies of metal accumulation at macrofaunal burrow walls, (2) investigating interactions between dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria and dissolved metals and metal-organic complexes, (3) studies of the relationships between aqueous geochemistry and methane efflux in solid waste landfills, (4) investigations of the molecular mechanism of copper-transporting P-type APTases, (5) national and international field studies of ground water quality and salinization processes and (6) studies of the role of metal-regulated ion pumps in bacterial metabolism. These studies will result in improved understanding of socially-relevant problems including: predicting heavy metal transport and bioavailability in the environment, mechanisms leading to greenhouse gas emission from landfills, practices leading to salinization of agricultural land, groundwater sanitation, and the functionality of proteins implicated in the development of Wilson disease.