This grant supports acquisition of a stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (SIRMS) system to be housed in the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (MEAS) at North Carolina State University. A dual inlet SIRMS with gas chromatograph and elemental analyzer preparative devices will be commissioned. The SIRMS system will allow for analysis of compound specific stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen and facilitate a wide range of basic and applied geochemical and biogeochemical research projects in MEAS and the Department of Forestry that seek to trace the fate, preservation or sequestration of naturally occurring and anthropogenic organic species. Primary users of the requested SIRMS will include lead PI Neal Blair and co-I's Elana Leithold, Mary Schweitzer, John Fountain, and David DeMaster of MEAS and Elizabeth Nichols of Forestry. Broader impacts include improved educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at NCSU and high school science teachers in the state. In addition, proposed studies of organic carbon cycling have implications for national policies concerning pollutant remediation and greenhouse gas emissions. ***
