Renovation of laboratory instrumentation at the Kellogg Biological Station

凯洛格生物站实验室仪器的翻新密歇根州立大学在G.菲利普·罗伯逊博士和斯蒂芬·K·汉密尔顿博士的指导下，获得了一笔赠款，用于翻新该大学W.K.凯洛格生物站(KBS)用于环境研究的关键仪器。这些仪器将提高对空间站周围各种生态系统的植物、土壤和水样中的碳、氮、磷和其他元素进行量化的能力。新的仪器将取代现有的磨损或过时的仪器，提高分析灵敏度和样品吞吐量。许多正在进行的研究，由KBS的州和联邦机构资助，依赖于获得高质量的分析设施；新仪器将填补空间站分析能力方面的一个重大缺口。生物地球化学和生态学研究都将从收购中受益。新仪器要解决的科学问题具有广泛的环境意义。例如，众所周知，环境中过量的氮和磷会损害生态系统，而这并不是它们的本意，具有重大的经济影响。最近的一项经济研究表明，仅在水质方面，这些污染物每年的成本就高达数百亿美元；更好地了解复杂地貌中的氮、磷和碳循环应该如何允许制定更有效的管理战略。获得高质量的仪器设备对研究生和本科生教育也很重要。KBS是密歇根州立大学重要的环境教学设施，学生将在实地课程和自己的独立学习项目中使用这些工具。此外，这些仪器还用于外联和社区教育活动--四镇水资源委员会和奥古斯塔小溪流域协会都使用了KBS实验室分析的水样数据，该站还与一组在夏季科学学院使用现有仪器的K-12科学教师合作。因此，在许多层面上，这一NSF奖项将对环境研究、教育和推广产生积极影响。

Renovation of laboratory instrumentation at the Kellogg Biological StationA grant has been awarded to Michigan State University under the direction of Drs. G. Philip Robertson and Stephen K. Hamilton to renovate crucial instrumentation used for environmental research at the University's W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS). The instruments will provide an improved abililty to quantify carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other elements in plant, soil, and water samples from various ecosystems around the Station. The new instruments will replace existing ones that are either worn out or obsolete, improving both analytical sensitivity and sample throughput. Many on-going studies, funded by both state and federal agencies at KBS, depend on access to high-quality analytical facilities; the new instruments will fill a major emerging gap in the Station's analytical capacity.Both biogeochemical and ecological research will benefit from the acquisition. Scientific questions to be addressed with the new instrumentation have broad environmental significance. For example, excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the environment are known to harm ecosystems for which they were not intended, with substantial economic impact. A recent economic study placed the costs of these pollutants in the tens of billions of dollars per year for water quality alone; better knowledge of how nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycle in complex landscapes should allow the development of more effective management strategies. Access to high-quality instrumentation is also important for graduate and undergraduate education. KBS is an important environmental teaching facility at MSU and students will use these instruments both in field courses and for their own independent study projects. Additionally the instruments are used in outreach and community education activities - the Four-Township Water Resources Council and the Augusta Creek Watershed Association have both used data from water samples analyzed by KBS laboratories, and the Station also partners with a group of K-12 science teachers who have used the existing instruments in summer science institutes. At a number of levels, then, this NSF award will have a positive impact on environmental research, education, and outreach.