Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometer for Geological and Environmental Applications

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This project will fund the acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) for the Miami University Department of Geology. The new instrument will support and enhance existing strengths of the department. Over the past 15 years the Department of Geology has moved to further enhance geochemistry as a prime focus of its research and teaching efforts, and because of this, the need for routine acquisition of reliable, high quality geochemical data continues to grow. The new ICP-OES will become the centerpiece for routine analytical geochemistry teaching and research where precise quantitative analysis of major, minor, and trace elements in a variety of matrices including rocks, minerals, soils, and natural waters is required. Eight geology faculty/staff PIs and associated student research groups and their collaborators initially will utilize the ICP-OES to address hypotheses and elucidate problems in igneous petrogenesis including mantle-crust interactions and evolution, tephrochronology and the environmental context for human evolution, pedogenesis in hyperarid climates and implications for climate change, geomicrobial processes in extreme geological environments, microbe-water-mineral interactions, remediation of heavy metal pollution in groundwater and acid mine drainage, and crystal chemical investigations applied to nuclear waste storage. The new ICP-OES and associated geochemical laboratories will serve to train undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral researchers in modern aspects of geological and environmental sample preparation, experimental design, and the use of analytical laboratory equipment. Additionally, women comprised over 50% of our geochemistry research that involved students. Moreover, PIs Hart and Widom currently oversee a combined research group that includes six female graduate and two female undergraduate students, and one African-American student.