Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer for Interdisciplinary Geochemical and Microbiological Research and Education

Koretsky-0446565电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法（ICP-OES）是一种稳健、可靠的方法，可从各种浓度的水性样品中获得元素丰度数据，包括主要（即%）和痕量（ppm-ppb）水平。西密歇根大学（WMU）地球科学系获得ICP-OES系统将极大地增强目前正在进行的广泛的地球化学和微生物调查，并将大大扩大未来研究工作的潜力。WMU是一所以学生为中心的研究型大学（卡内基第一类），致力于学生在本科和研究生阶段参与原创性研究。支持ICP-OES系统的这笔赠款直接增强了WMU的教师和学生在地质，化学和生物学科的研究，包括目前由国家科学基金会，美国化学学会石油研究基金和美国环境保护署资助的项目。将立即受益于这一工具的一些具体项目包括：（1）复杂矿物组合对金属吸附的实验室研究和大型底栖动物洞穴壁金属积累的实地研究，（2）调查异化金属还原菌与溶解金属和金属有机络合物之间的相互作用，（3）垃圾填埋场水体地球化学与甲烷排放关系的研究;（4）P型铜转运酶分子机制的研究;（5）地下水质量和盐碱化过程的国家和国际实地研究;（6）金属调节离子泵在细菌代谢中的作用研究。这些研究将导致对社会相关问题的更好理解，包括：预测环境中的重金属运输和生物利用度，导致垃圾填埋场温室气体排放的机制，导致农业土地盐碱化的做法，地下水卫生，以及与威尔逊病发展有关的蛋白质功能。

EAR-0446565KoretskyInductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) is a robust and reliable method of obtaining elemental abundance data from aqueous samples at a wide range of concentrations, including major (i.e. %) and trace (ppm-ppb) levels. Acquisition of an ICP-OES system by the Department of Geosciences at Western Michigan University (WMU) will tremendously enhance a wide range of geochemical and microbiological investigations currently underway, and will profoundly expand the potential for future research efforts. WMU is a student-centered research university (Carnegie category one) with a commitment to student engagement in original research at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This grant in support of an ICP-OES system directly enhances faculty and student research at WMU across a diverse range of geologic, chemical and biological disciplines, including projects currently funded by the National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Some of the specific projects that will immediately benefit from this instrumentation include: (1) laboratory studies of metal adsorption on complex mineral assemblages and field studies of metal accumulation at macrofaunal burrow walls, (2) investigating interactions between dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria and dissolved metals and metal-organic complexes, (3) studies of the relationships between aqueous geochemistry and methane efflux in solid waste landfills, (4) investigations of the molecular mechanism of copper-transporting P-type APTases, (5) national and international field studies of ground water quality and salinization processes and (6) studies of the role of metal-regulated ion pumps in bacterial metabolism. These studies will result in improved understanding of socially-relevant problems including: predicting heavy metal transport and bioavailability in the environment, mechanisms leading to greenhouse gas emission from landfills, practices leading to salinization of agricultural land, groundwater sanitation, and the functionality of proteins implicated in the development of Wilson disease.