This grant will provide three years partial salary support for a laboratory technician in the stable isotope laboratory at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. This is a Phase I technician support grant under the Instrumentation and Facilities (IF) Program. The stable isotope technician will provide routine maintenance and operation of the isotope ratio mass spectrometers and vacuum extraction lines, help to develop and maintain proper analytical technique, and provide quality instruction to laboratory users, including undergraduate and graduate students and researchers from other universities. Support of this technician will permit more active research engagement of the P.I. and other UTK faculty in their research on soils and paleosols, plant-soil interaction, Precambrian carbonates, fluid-rock interaction, and bat ecology, enhancing research and educational activities within the geological sciences and across several disciplines. This will ultimately broaden the base of operational support for the lab and increase the institutional value of a permanent, state (i.e., University)-funded position in the lab.
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