9601698 Quay The PI requests funds for the purchase of a new Gas Chromarograph-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (GC-IRMS). The PI presents three major reasons to support this request: 1) A GC0IRMS instrument, which uses a new technology coupling a continuous flow gas chromatograph with a traditional IRMS, and allows isotopic analysis on samples that are a 1000x times smaller in size than the minimum sample size required for their traditional static inlet; 2) currently their sample output for isotope ratio measurements is limited by available analysis time of their mass spectrometer; 3) and the requested GC-IRMS and two automated sample preparation devices will significantly reduce the technician time required for isotope ration measurements. The University of Washington is offering $234,950 of matching funds which represents a 49.7% cost share. ***
