This proposal seeks support for the appointment of a Ph.D. scientist to act as laboratory manager for a new ICP-based analytical facility at the University of Florida for an initial 3-year period. The University of Florida will assume 100% financial responsibility for this position on a permanent basis subsequent to this initial period. The construction of the ICP laboratory and the acquisition of two new ICP mass spectrometers (Finnegan-MAT Element-2 and Nu Plasma multicollector) are part of the recent relocation into >10,000 sq. ft. of new geochemical laboratories as part of an overall relocation of our Department into greatly expanded and renovated facilities (Williamson Hall). These instruments have been interfaced with newly acquired Excimer (193 nm) and Nd-YAG (213 nm) lasers, as well as a desolvating nebulizer and autosamplers. Financial support for both laboratory renovation and instrument acquisition involved cost sharing between the University of Florida and the NSF. The primary responsibilities of this person will include: 1) contribute to method development and participate in collaborative and independent research, 2) maintain quality control of the facility, which will be a challenge in light of the large number of users; 3) oversee and administer day-to-day activities such as maintenance and scheduling, in order for the facility to efficiently produce the highest quality data; and 4) make the instruments capabilities known to and accessible to a wide range of users inside and outside of the department, including students. In addition, the laboratory manager will be the primary instructor for students exposed to elemental and isotopic methods both in courses and via individual research projects at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Without an experienced laboratory manager, access to this facility for these students and other users will be very limited. ***
