Collaborative Research: An Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer for Biogeoscience Research and Teaching at the University of New Orleans and Tulane University

University Of New Orleans, New Orleans LA

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to the University of New Orleans and Tulane University under the direction for Dr. William Simmons for partial support of an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) facility for biogeoscience research and education. Stable isotope measurements provide critical information about the earth that is unobtainable by any other means and that is necessary to answer fundamental questions in the biogeosciences. Researchers at the University of New Orleans (UNO) and Tulane University are currently using stable isotopes of C, N, O and S in their research programs, but due to lack of a local IRMS facility, have to rely on out-of-state laboratories for these measurements. The UNO/Tulane IRMS facility will be used for high precision measurement of stable isotope ratios on N2, O2, CO2, CO, N2O and SO2. The research projects that will benefit from the IRMS facility address a broad suite of basic and applied problems in the fields of watershed science, paleoclimate investigation, foodweb study and tropical ecology. Scientific assessment of programs to reverse coastal erosion and preserve wetlands in southern Louisiana will benefit greatly from this new facility by providing critical information on ecosystem dynamics and the movement of elements through the environment. In addition to facilitating research programs, the IRMS will enhance the training of undergraduate and graduate students at UNO and Tulane. Several upper division and graduate level courses will now incorporate mass spectrometry in field and laboratory exercises. Special educational initiatives at UNO including an NSF-funded program to enhance under-represented minorities in environmental biology (UMEB) will take advantage of the IRMS as a recruiting tool and training facility. Besides providing a tool that is vital to the success of many research programs, the IRMS facility will stimulate collaboration between the major private and public Universities in New Orleans; these universities serve students and early-career scientists from underrepresented groups in the biogeosciences. The IRMS system will be a shared-use facility benefiting research and teaching activities at UNO and Tulane University as well as other Louisiana Universities.