This award provides $128,651 in NSF funding over 12 months to acquire an ICP-OES and a microwave digestion system for research at Florida International University. Requested is an ICP-OES with wavelength range from the UV to IR so that multiple elements can be analyzed, radial and axial view options, high stability, and flexible inlet options. The new instrumentation will be upgrades or replacements for current instrumentation at FIU. The suite will support a newly created department which incorporates environmental science. The PIs will continue current research in the areas of mantle and crustal igneous processes, groundwater flow, interactions and dynamics, estuarine and lake sediment research, and paleoproxy identification and measurement. The instrumentation will be housed in existing space having all necessary environmental controls and power conditioning already in place. A service contract will be purchased as a historical part of the Department's budget. A departmental engineer is on staff to assist in maintenance and repairs. A use fee will be assessed for the ICP-OES. Ample sample preparation facilities are available and data will be collected, analyzed and archived in accordance with NSF's Data Sharing Policy. The new instruments will be a resource for research and education. The suite will be incorporated into graduate and undergraduate research projects. The acquisition will be key infrastructure in establishing the new Department of Earth & Environment. Funded research projects will produce results which will be disseminated through the peer-reviewed literature. In-place programs like the NSF GeoSCOPE and LTER Schoolyard will be outreach vehicles. FIU is a Minority- and Hispanic-Serving institution. Environmental science projects will have broad societal impacts.
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(FIU), Miami, FL to replace a 25 year old instrument. Department faculty and students have been trained by a Perkin Elmer Inorganic Product Specialist, and they will use the instrument for current and future research in geoscience, involving major and trace element analysis of rocks, sediments, soil and water. Current projects include analysis of major and trace elements in lava and volcanic ash to detect and interpret changes in magma chemistry between successive eruptions, and analysis of redox-sensitive trace metals in Mesozoic sediments to detect and interpret changes in paleo-oceanographic conditions associated with Oceanic Anoxic Events. FIU is a large, minority-serving, state university, and the department offers undergraduate degree programs in Environmental Studies (BA and BS), Earth Science Education (BA), and Geosciences (BS, with majors in Geological Sciences and Atmospheric Sciences) as well as graduate degrees in Environmental Studies (MS) and Geosciences (MS and PhD). The new ICP-OES is being used for the education of FIU graduate and undergraduate students in geochemical analytical techniques and the application of geochemical data to scientific problems, both in dedicated courses and through supervised research projects. We also have utilized the instrument for education of secondary school teachers, both in-training and in-service, and plan activities with Miami-Dade county high school students during our summer 2014 Geoscience Experience and similar future programs.
