Technical Support for the New MC-ICP-MS Laboratory at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

该奖项将支持一名技术人员，该技术人员将在伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校（UIUC）新的NSF资助的多接收器电感耦合等离子体质谱仪（MC-ICP-MS）设施中发挥关键作用。该设施将用于进行高精度的同位素比测量，这对于UIUC地质学，人类学和环境化学几个领域的NSF支持研究至关重要。 该仪器的具体应用包括：n追踪地下水和地表水中可能有毒的硒、铬和汞的化学反应揭示岩浆产生和向地球表面迁移的过程确定记录气候变化的地球物质的年龄n确定造山活动的年龄及其过程n追踪人类祖先和考古文物的迁移技术人员将是负责协调仪器正确操作和有效使用的核心人员，并将使该设施能够为庞大而高度多样化的学生和研究人员社区服务。 MC-ICP-MS很难运行，但在全职技术人员的帮助下，经验不足的用户可以成功地分析自己的样品。 建议的技术人员将负责让用户开始使用，为某些用户配置仪器，评价和维护仪器的稳定性，进行维护和校准，建议和协助外部用户进行样品制备，并为无法分析自己样品的外部用户进行有限数量的常规分析。 技术人员的努力将大大增加该仪器的教育影响，使更多的用户能够亲自使用该仪器，并使其能够在课堂上使用。 研究生和其他研究人员从P.I.的小组以外将大大受益于技术支持，这将使他们能够获得高质量的分析与有限的培训。 本科生的研究也将在更大程度上依赖于技术人员的努力。

EAR-0348948JohnsonThis award will support a technician who will play a key role in the new NSF-funded multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) facility at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). The facility will be used to make high-precision isotope ratio measurements, which are critical in NSF-supported research in several areas of Geology, Anthropology, and Environmental Chemistry at UIUC. Specific applications of the instrument include:n Tracing chemical reactions involving potentially toxic selenium, chromium, and mercury in ground water and surface watern Revealing the processes through which magmas are generated and migrate toward the earth's surfacen Determining ages of earth materials that hold records of climate change n Determining ages of mountain-building events and the processes involved in themn Tracing migration of human ancestors and archaeological artifacts The technician will be the central person charged with coordinating the proper operation and efficient use of the instrument, and will enable the facility to serve a large and highly diverse community of students and researchers. The MC-ICP-MS will be difficult to run, but with assistance in setup and oversight afforded by a full-time technician, less experienced users can analyze their own samples successfully. The proposed technician will be responsible for getting users started, configuring the instrument for some users, evaluating and maintaining the stability of the instrument, performing maintenance and calibration, advising and assisting outside users with sample preparation, and performing a limited number of routine analyses for outside users who cannot analyze their own samples. The efforts of the technician will greatly increase the educational impact of the instrument, allowing a wider range of users hands-on access to the instrument and enabling its use in classes. Graduate students and other researchers from outside the P.I.s' groups will greatly benefit from technical support that will enable them to obtain high-quality analyses with limited training. Undergraduate research will be similarly reliant on the efforts of the technician, to an even greater extent.