Acquisition of a Gas-Source Mass Spectrometer for Microbiological, Biogeochemical and Food Web Analysis

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This award is for the acquisition of a gas-source mass spectrometer for microbiological, biogeochemical and food web analysis. The mass spectrometer will be used to determine the stable carbon, nitrogen and sulfur ratios on bulk organic samples and individual molecules in a variety of research projects by ecologists, biogeochemists and geologists. The six University of Alabama faculty on this award collaborate widely on research areas including (1) energy flow in stream and wetland ecosystems, (2) coupled biochemical cycling and trophodynamics of mercury in southeastern riverine ecosystems, the Everglades and the METALLICUS lakes projects, (3) determination of biotic and abiotic transformations of priority pollutants in groundwater systems, (4) ecology of deep-water corals in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, (5) subsurface in situ immobilization of uranium coupled to dissimilatory metal-reducing bacterial activity, and (6) biogeochemistry of Mars-like environments. This award will impact teaching and research of both undergraduate and graduate students. The mass spectrometer will be in the Aquatic Chemistry Laboratory (a research facility within the Center for Freshwater Studies) at the university. Minority participation will be ensured through the efforts of the University of Alabama faculty and through the continuation of a long-standing relationship with Stillman College (an historically black college in Tuscaloosa).