Technician Support: Request for Phase 1 for MC-ICP-MS Laboratory

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

EAR-0318213 Johnson Funding will supply 75% of the salary required for three years for a new technician in the Radiogenic Isotope Lab at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, which is required to staff a new $ 1M lab that includes a new multi-collector, inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) [Micromass IsoProbe]. The remaining 25% funding for the full-time technician position will come from university sources. The new technician position will provide core technical support for NSF-EAR research projects on stable isotope variations of Fe, Cu, Zn, and Hg, as well as radiogenic isotope studies of the Lu-Hf, U-Th, and U-Pb systems, as applied to problems in geomicrobiology, geochemistry, water chemistry, metamorphism, volcanism, and planetary evolution. The research plan the technician position will support is quite broad, spanning the fields of geology, microbiology, water chemistry, and space science. Students will be involved at all levels, from undergraduate students to senior post-docs. In addition, the research will involve collaborators from a large number of other institutions. Several of the projects involve work that is directly pertinent to societal issues, including water quality and volcanic hazards, as well as those that involve a broader scope, including the origin and evolution of life.