A grant has been awarded to Washington State University under the direction of Dr. R. Dave Evans for partial support of the purchase of two stable isotope mass spectrometers for global change training and research. Quantifying natural variation in the different isotopes of an element is now central in many studies of global change biology. It was once thought that the relative abundance of different isotopes of an element was constant, but technological advances and the development of stable isotope mass spectrometers have shown that natural variation in the relative abundance occurs because of differences in reaction rates in physical and biological transformations. Washington State University has identified the area of global change as a research priority, yet the latest generation of stable isotope mass spectrometers is not available on campus. This proposal assembles a research team composed of eight PI's and senior personnel from five departments and two colleges whose common theme is the use of stable isotopes to quantify responses to global change at the physiological, community / ecosystem, and geosphere / biosphere / atmosphere scales. We propose to purchase two isotope ratio mass spectrometers and supporting peripherals to facilitate our research.
The new equipment will immediately increase productivity of the research group. Currently investigators must submit samples to off-campus facilities where analyses may take six months, and many of the capabilities in this proposal are simply not commercially available. It will also enhance research training by allowing students to analyze their own samples, rather than taking a "black-box" approach by submitting them to other labs. The new equipment will also foster collaborations among three other research cores on campus; the Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, Laboratory for Biotechnology and Bioanalysis, and the plant growth facility.
The research group will take advantage of existing programs at the University, College, and Departmental levels to recruit under-represented minorities into their research laboratories. The group has already demonstrated their commitment to this; 100 % of the post-doctoral associates, almost 70 % of the graduate students, and almost 40 % of the undergraduate students that would benefit from this proposal are members of under-represented groups. Undergraduate and graduate courses will benefit by incorporating stable isotope analyses and theory into their laboratory courses. Finally, the reduced costs make it more likely that researchers and students will take advantage of the facility.
