Collaborative Research: High-precision triple-isotopologue analysis of N2

自世纪开始以来，人类用于农业和工业的固氮量增加了十倍。这种对氮循环的深刻扰动揭示了全球氮循环和生物圈之间的联系比以前认为的要复杂得多。为了在全球范围内提高对这些联系的理解，研究人员将开发一种新的氮循环示踪剂，利用14 N14 N，14 N15 N和15 N15 N的自然共变。N2的这三种同位素体包括对改变N-N键的过程（例如固氮和N2产生）基本上敏感的示踪剂。通过实验室测量，现场测量和涉及微生物的实验相结合，研究人员将描述这些物种的基本地球化学特征，这些物种与大气和海洋环境有关。这些测量将测试N2三重同位素分析是否可以更广泛地应用于限制局部和全球范围内的氮循环。科学研究结果将在会议介绍和同行评审出版物中传播。该项目还将通过培训一名来自传统上代表性不足群体的女研究生，支持她参加地球化学短期课程的培训，将研究与教育结合起来。此外，还将与广受欢迎的PHD TV YouTube频道合作制作一系列关于氮的短片动画。他们将突出氮如何在社会中发挥更大的作用，而不是经常被忽视，编织在一起的人类历史，地球化学和气候科学在一个平易近人的漫画动画媒体，已成为PHD电视的标志。

Nitrogen fixation by humans, for agricultural and industrial use, has increased tenfold since the beginning of the 20th century. This profound perturbation to the nitrogen cycle has revealed that the links between the global nitrogen cycle and the biosphere are more complex than previously thought. To improve the understanding of these links at the global scale, investigators will develop a new tracer for the nitrogen cycle that exploits natural co-variations in 14N14N, 14N15N, and 15N15N. These three isotopologues of N2 comprise a tracer that is fundamentally sensitive to processes that alter N-N bonds such as nitrogen fixation and N2 production. Through a combination of laboratory measurements, field measurements, and experiments involving microbes, investigators will characterize the basic biogeochemistry of these species that is relevant to atmospheric and oceanic settings. These measurements will test whether N2 triple-isotopologue analysis can be applied more broadly to constrain nitrogen cycling on local and global scales. The scientific findings will be disseminated during conference presentations and in peer-reviewed publications. This project will also integrate research and education through the training of a female graduate student from a traditionally underrepresented group, supporting her training in a biogeochemistry short course. In addition, a series of short animations about nitrogen will be produced in partnership with the popular PHD TV YouTube channel. They will highlight how nitrogen has played a larger role in society than is often unrecognized, weaving together human history, biogeochemistry, and climate science in an approachable comic-animation medium that has become the hallmark of PHD TV.