"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."
Identification of key environmental parameters that affect the survival and/or production of marine organisms is needed to maintain biodiversity and ensure the preservation of marine ecosystems. The links between ecological and biogeochemical processes are increasingly implicated as being critically important but are rarely included in ecological studies, compromising our ability to effectively assess and monitor the health of marine ecosystems. An improved understanding of such relationships will provide important insights into ecosystem stability and the potential consequences of future habitat alteration due to human activity and global climate change.
The PI?s request funding to acquire a Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS) and a Total Mercury Analyzer. The equipment will significantly enhance the analytical capacity at TAMUG and will be used by faculty at this institution as well as faculty in the new Interdisciplinary Degree Program (IDP) in Marine Biology (Program comprised of faculty from six departments and three campuses in the Texas A&M University System) to continue to investigate novel lines of ecological research that include the biogeochemistry of land-ocean interactions, ecological impacts of engineered nanoparticles, and population connectivity of marine organisms.
Broader Impacts
The new instruments will provide a link between education and research through undergraduate classes and training. The faculty would benefit because the proposed LA-ICP-MS would be the first one on the TAMUG campus. This instrument is the workhorse of elemental analysis and every research institution should have at least one. This instrument would elevate the research of the PIs and also provide basic analytical capabilities for a broad range of scientists at TAMUG whom could use the instrument on a pay-per-use basis. The University supports public outreach but there was no direct plan for public outreach by this group.
TAMUG is a small undergraduate institution with curricula that center on marine-related disciplines. Faculty at TAMUG actively participate in extramural research encompassing areas in marine biology, marine sciences, marine environmental and conservation studies, marine/maritime engineering, as well as being involved in marine aspects of business, law, policy and management. Research is focused largely in the areas of estuarine and coastal ecosystems, coastal and beach processes, geochemical cycling in the marine/aquatic/atmospheric systems, marine life studies, and offshore/deepwater environments. New instrumentation received from the NSF MRI Program included a laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS) and DMA-80 Direct Mercury Analyzer. The LA-ICP-MS represents a new piece of analytical equipment to TAMUG that will enhance our research capabilities by allowing faculty to quantify multi-elemental signatures of water, sediment, plankton, plant, and animal tissue. The mercury analyzer replaced an obsolete piece of equipment at TAMUG and is currently being used to quantify mercury levels in aquatic organisms, including seafood. The equipment was recently purchased and set up in the new 55 million Ocean and Coastal Studies Building at TAMUG. Installation and basic training was provided this spring to undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral researchers, and professors at TAMUG. Training and preliminary testing is nearly complete and the equipment will be used in 2011 to advance research in three focal areas of ecological and biogeochemical research: 1) land-ocean interactions and speciation/removal of metals, 2) trophic dynamics, production, and energy flow, and 3) population dynamics and population connectivity of fish populations. Moreover, the equipment will be used to determine the exposure of marine fauna (based on trace metal concentration in tissue and hard parts) to contaminants from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
