Acquisition of Inductively-Coupled Plasma Optical Emission and X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometers for Geoscience Research at North Dakota State University

该奖项为北达科他州州立大学（NDSU）的地球科学研究提供资金，用于购买两种新的分析仪器，一种是电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪（ICP-OES），另一种是X射线荧光光谱仪（XRF）。这些仪器将支持对北达科他州自然资源的化学性质的研究，重点是水、岩石、沉积物和土壤。除了为新仪器提供资金外，该奖项还将支持一个涉及北达科他州的NDSU和部落学院的学生和教师的推广计划。该计划将涉及有兴趣了解北达科他州水和土壤质量的学生的研究经验，旨在扩大地球科学研究的参与。购买ICP-OES和XRF将扩大NDSU地球科学系的分析能力，该系强调本科生和研究生的实地和实验室研究。该部门的研究人员将使用这些仪器来支持各种地球科学学科的研究，包括第四纪冰川和气候变化，北达科他州石油和天然气产区的土壤和水质变化，以及涉及天然沃茨中稀土元素和金属的化学过程。此外，ICP-OES和XRF将使NDSU在土壤科学，化学和自然资源管理方面的新研究成为可能，并将大大增强NDSU教师与明尼苏达州和蒙大拿州邻近机构的同事之间正在进行的合作研究。该奖项得到了NSF激励竞争研究既定计划（EPSCoR）办公室的共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award provides funds to purchase two new analytical instruments, an Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) and an X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF), for geoscience research at North Dakota State University (NDSU). The instruments will support studies of the chemical properties of North Dakota’s natural resources, focusing on water, rock, sediment, and soil. In addition to providing funding for the new instruments, the award will support an outreach program involving students and faculty at NDSU and Tribal Colleges in North Dakota. The program will involve research experiences for students interested in understanding water and soil quality in North Dakota, and is designed to broaden participation in geoscience research. Acquisition of an ICP-OES and XRF will expand the analytical capabilities of the Department of Geosciences at NDSU, which emphasizes field and laboratory-based research with undergraduate and graduate students. Faculty researchers in the department will use the instruments to support research in a variety of geoscience disciplines, including Quaternary glaciation and climate change, soil and water-quality changes in oil-and-gas producing regions in North Dakota, and chemical processes in involving rare Earth elements and metals in natural waters. Additionally, the ICP-OES and XRF will enable new research in soil science, chemistry, and natural resource management at NDSU, and will significantly augment ongoing, collaborative research between NDSU faculty and colleagues at neighboring institutions in Minnesota and Montana. This award received co-funding from the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) office at NSF.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.