Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometers for Environmental Research

该奖项是为获得一台具有扩展平面光学元件和几个外围设备的同位素比质谱仪，用于自动化、小样本和特定化合物的分析。这些仪器将成为该大学稳定同位素比环境研究设施(SIRFER)的一部分。氢、碳、氮、氧和硫稳定同位素丰度的自然变化被用来研究地球表面及其附近的生物、生态、水文和地球化学问题；这些分析也被应用于从人类学到法医学的与人类有关的研究。目前的研究项目包括：确定动物组织中的同位素周转时间，有助于了解野生动物的新陈代谢路线和饮食历史；法医学应用，确定身份不明的人类的起源；通过其食物投入重建鲸鱼的迁徙路线；毒素的新陈代谢；生态系统内碳的循环；估计植物在林分一级的应激反应；通过树轮重建气候；确定降水输入相对于河流中的蒸发损失；确定氮的输入来源和河流中的氮转化；以及在城市环境中，了解用于能源生产的化石燃料的氮沉积和二氧化碳来源的分配与生物活动。除了有价值的生态学研究外，这种质谱仪还将用于本科生的研究和教育，其中包括一门名为《生态系统中的稳定同位素》的课程。此外，还为其他大学的学生和教职员工开设了每年一次的稳定同位素生态学短期课程。在这些课程中接受培训的许多学生后来在其他大学建立了自己的稳定同位素实验室。

This award is for the acquisition of an isotope ratio mass spectrometer with extended plane optics and several peripherals for automated, small sample, and compound-specific analyses. These instruments will become part of the university's Stable Isotope Ratio Facility for Environmental Research (SIRFER). Natural variations in the stable isotope abundances of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur are used to study biological, ecological, hydrological, and geochemical problems at and near the Earth's surface; these analyses are applied as well to human-related research from anthropology through forensic sciences. Current research projects include: Determination of isotope turnover times in animal tissues, leading to understanding metabolic routing and dietary histories of wildlife; Forensics applications determining the origins of unidentified humans; Reconstructing the migration routes of whales through their dietary inputs; Metabolism of toxins; Cycling of carbon within ecosystems; Estimates of stress responses in plants at the stand level; Reconstructing climate through tree rings; Determination of precipitation inputs relative to evaporative losses in river systems; Determination of nitrogen input sources and nitrogen transformation in rivers; and, in urban environments, Understanding both nitrogen deposition and partitioning of carbon dioxide sources from fossil fuels used in energy production versus biogenic activities. In addition to valuable ecological research, this mass spectrometer will be used for undergraduate research and education, including the course, "Stable Isotopes in Ecosystems. There is also an annual short course in Stable Isotope Ecology for students and faculty from other universities. Many of the students trained in these courses have gone on to establish their own stable isotope laboratories at other universities.