MRI: Acquisition of a Mass Spectrometry Facility for Research, Education and Outreach on Drinking and Ground Water Quality

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0922818McGinleyThis proposal is for a mass spectrometry instrument cluster for advancing drinking and ground water research, education and outreach at the Center for Watershed Science and Education (CWSE) at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Two analytical instruments are requested for this cluster: an Inductively Coupled Plasma / Mass Spectrometer (ICP/MS) and a Liquid Chromatograph / Mass Spectrometer (LC/MS). Together, they will allow important advances in inorganic, and organic contaminant detection, quantification and tracing through hydrologic systems. The requested instrument cluster will be a critical addition to a laboratory that already serves as a regional center for research and analysis on drinking and ground water contaminant occurrence, and for outreach on linking the impacts of land use to ground water quality. The specific research focus for this instrument cluster is characterizing and understanding the occurrence of a variety of anthropogenic and geochemical drinking water contaminants in ground water. The instrumentation is necessary to meet the demands for: 1) lower quantification limits; 2) identification of new and emerging contaminants; and, 3) incorporation of anthropogenic tracers into hydrologic pathway evaluation. The instrument cluster described in the MRI proposal will provide a modern platform for teaching and outreach. The direct link between these instruments and improved teaching and outreach ensure that there are important broader impacts of this instrumentation grant. The equipment will replace older analytical instruments that have been in the CWSE for more than a decade. The instrument cluster will be used directly in two courses at one of the largest natural resource colleges in the U.S. It will become part of undergraduate research in a laboratory that already emphasizes student use of complex analytical instrumentation. In addition, the improved analytical capability will assist an outreach effort that reaches thousands of private well owners annually with the University of Wisconsin-Extension, and will be important to maintaining current and building new partnerships with agency and research organizations.