MRI: Acquisition of a Multi-Channel Ion Chromatograph to Support Geochemical and Environmental Research

COXEAR-2117554本项目由重大研究仪器计划和已建立的激励竞争性研究计划(EPSCoR)联合资助。资金将支持购买离子色谱仪，使其能够测定和量化天然水中的重要分子。该中心将直接惠及地球化学、化学、矿山废物修复、植物学和环境科学与工程等十个正在进行的项目。计划在当地超级基金遗址进行的砷和金属修复研究对公共卫生和环境恢复具有影响。与当地分水岭教育计划的计划参与将使数百名K-12教师及其学生接触到与当地采矿相关的环境问题的地球化学分析应用。该仪器将支持蒙大拿州农村地区两所主要本科院校的早期职业和女性地球科学家的研究和教学培训，在那里，第一代和美洲原住民学生占学生总数的重要部分。IC将支持水样中主要阳离子、阴离子和有机酸的分析。PIS研究议程的一个特别重点是旨在了解砷和金属污染物如何在环境中循环的调查，研究减少农业径流中硝酸盐的生物电化学方法，生态系统修复，以及探索极端细菌介导的黄石温泉生物地球化学相互作用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

CoxEAR-2117554This project is jointly funded by Major Research Instrumentation Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Funding will support acquisition of an ion chromatograph which allows the determination and quantification of important molecules in natural waters. The IC would directly benefit ten ongoing projects in geochemistry, chemistry, mine-waste remediation, botany, and environmental science and engineering. Intended studies of Arsenic and metal remediation at a local Superfund site has implications for public health and environmental recovery. Planned engagement with a local watershed education Program would expose hundreds of K-12 teachers and their students to geochemical analysis applications to local mining related environmental issues. The instrument will support the research of early career and female geoscientists and research and teaching training at two primarily undergraduate institutions in rural Montana where first generation and Native American students make up a significant part of the student body.The IC will support analysis of major cations, anions and organic acids in aqueous samples. A particular focus of the PIs research agenda are investigations aimed at understanding how arsenic and metal contaminants cycle in the environment, study of bio-electrochemical methods to reduce nitrates from agricultural runoff, ecosystems remediation, and exploring extremophile mediated biogeochemical interactions in Yellowstone's hot springs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.