With funding from this small grant, researchers at the Texas A & M University at Galveston will modernize the data acquisition and analysis capability of their environmental radioisotope laboratory. Areas of ongoing research that will greatly benefit from the acquisition of radiochemical equipment for funded radiochemistry include the following: (1) studies of actinide metal mobility in subsurface and surface water environments; (2) investigations of sediment transport (erosion, resuspension, deposition) and sediment geochronology in terrestrial and coastal marine environments; and (3) research on nano-particle and biomolecule-biota interactions in terrestrial and coastal marine environments.
In terms of broader impacts, this grant should significantly augment the grantee's radio-analytical capabilities. It will allow facilitate the continuation and improvement of their research efforts with state and federal funding agencies, their role as an environmental analytical laboratory of regional significance, their collaborative research relationships with regional, national and international scientists and institutions, their interface with local communities and stakeholder entities, and their ability to continue to function as a resource for the education and training of undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and visiting scientists.
