The PI requests MRI RAPID funding to acquisition of a state-of-the-art high-resolution hybrid mass spectrometry system and associated peripherals (LC-MSn) as a shared-use facility at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) and in the Southern Maryland region. The LC-MSn instrumentation will be used for structural characterization and quantitative analysis of a diverse suite of polar molecules, most of which are biotic in origin and represent both living materials and metabolites, but also include anthropogenic compounds with emerging environmental and ecological health concerns. In targeted ecosystems ranging from the Chesapeake Bay to the Arctic, complex organic mixtures are recognized as fundamental components, but remain to be fully investigated with the most advanced tools we propose to acquire here. This new instrumentation will facilitate further development of ongoing and future undergraduate and graduate research projects that require new levels of analytical sophistication for characterization of organic compounds present in marine and estuarine ecosystems and their immediate environmental context.
Broader Impacts
Beyond enhancement of research capabilities the instrument will provide access to cutting edge instrumentation and techniques is critical for graduate students. The number of student that would benefit from access to this instrument at CBL and beyond is large. Several faculty members also support undergraduate research through NSF-REU programs. The proposed acquisition would greatly enhance the capabilities for teaching and training of students at UMCES. UMCES already provides outstanding hands-on opportunities for graduate (MEES graduate program) and undergraduate students (e.g., St. Mary's College of Maryland), and has a long track record in training of underrepresented minorities and female students. The instrumentation would directly positively impact the early career of at least one female faculty member.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE This grant allowed scientists at University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) to begin to answer a number of pressing research questions about complex mixtures of organic (carbon-containing) compounds that they were previously not able to. The instrument that was purchased with this grant was originally designed for medical applications, but it was recognized that it could be adapted for use by environmental scientists. This instrument is a high resolution mass spectrometer (LTQ-Orbitrap© manufactured by Thermo). When combined with a High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system, UMCES scientists could make advances in a range of fields while training graduate students and advanced undergraduate students in state-of-the-art techniques that will be relevant for years to come. Following a period of acquisition, installation and testing, adaptation of the equipment for use in environmental science has been the major focus. The LTQ-Orbitrap allows scientists to identify thousands of compounds simultaneously, separating the compounds based on precise measurement of their atomic mass. Using HPLC, we can then quantify selected compounds. Much of the research is fundamental, including methods development. Students and faculty at UMCES’ Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL) are identifying and measuring surfactants in natural waters in order to separate these compounds from those released from human sources such as septic tanks. Faculty and students at UMCES’s Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology are using the instrumentation to examine the chemical diversity of organisms, such as bacteria, that cannot be cultured in the laboratory. Scientists will link gene activation to chemical products to search for new compounds in complex media. Scientists and students at the University of Maryland College Park are working with CBL faculty to examine the complex makeup of organic matter in the ocean, including carbon sequestration and cycling. Other current studies include identifying surfactants associated with hydraulic fracturing, the growth of toxic diatoms, and how chlorination of water can create carcinogenic compounds.
