Equipment: MRI: Track 1: Acquisition of an isotope ratio mass spectrometer for biogeochemical and ecological education and research in an era of global change

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award will expand the analytical capability of the University of California, Santa Barbara Marine Science Institute (MSI) to include advanced chemical analyses of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) and small organic molecules through the acquisition of a new stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer and three supporting peripheral instruments. Currently, these measurements can only be made in a small number of laboratories. The MSI Analytical Laboratory, where the new instrumentation will be housed, is a facility with a 45-year history of successful operation staffed by two full-time professional technicians. This acquisition will catalyze cross-department interactions and interdisciplinary environmental science by facilitating a space where faculty and students from across campus using similar methods can interact without being siloed by departments. UCSB is both an Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI), with several active undergraduate research initiatives that reflect this unique status. The instrumentation will contribute significantly to improving STEM education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels across campus and ensure that students are trained to be competitive in the global STEM workforce. UCSB leads two marine NSF Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) programs: Santa Barbara Coastal (SBC) and Mo’orea Coral Reef (MCR). The new instrumentation will allow LTER researchers to tackle numerous questions at the leading edge of ecological and biogeochemical global change research. Through the SBC-LTER, researchers will use compound-specific isotope analyses (CSIA) of amino acids to further unravel kelp forest food webs by determining the sources of primary production supporting reefs. These measurements will also provide insights into how material flows, food web structure, and trophic cascades are impacted by fishing and long-term increases in non-native and southern-affinity species following ocean heat waves. Researchers with the MCR-LTER will use CSIA in amino acids to create improved spatial and temporal models of land-based runoff to better understand how anthropogenic nutrient inputs control reef dynamics. N2O isotopomer analysis in combination with 15N tracer experiments will allow tracking the sources of N2O, a powerful greenhouse gas, that are emitted to the atmosphere in coastal upwelling systems. Sulfur isotopes will enable ground-breaking research on marine organic matter sulfurization, which may contribute to carbon preservation and sequestration in the ocean. Hydrogen isotope capability will facilitate tracing the fate of cyanobacterial hydrocarbons using CSIA. Finally, in terrestrial aquatic ecosystems, researchers will quantify the degree to which organic matter degradation is conducted through microbial metabolism versus direct photooxidation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.