NSF Award
2320040
This Major Research Instrument award supports the acquisition of an Agilent 8900 Triple Quadrupole – Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometer (ICP-QQQ) coupled with the Coherent ExciStar XS Excimer laser 193nm (LA) with large object chamber (LOC). This LOC-LA-ICP-QQQ next-generation research instrument will open new frontiers of research in archaeology, biological sciences, environmental sciences, forensic anthropology, and geosciences. This project benefits an international group of 28 researchers and 14 cooperating institutions in multidisciplinary groups to conduct unique materials analysis and enable diverse research at Idaho State University (ISU). The instrument will allow chemical analysis of elements ranging from 2–275 atomic mass unit. This instrument will serve as a research and teaching system for all faculty, students, researchers, and staff at ISU. This instrument will be operated and cared for by the Center for Archaeology, Materials, and Spectroscopy Idaho and the Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Letters. The instrument will be open to all researchers across campus for grant funded and student research projects. This shared instrument will serve to increase faculty and student scholarship, attract outside researchers, and promote collaboration. It will attract and retain diverse and exceptional faculty and students, enhance teaching and learning, and foster community support. The availability of this shared instrument gives the ISU community the opportunity to explore research questions that are not currently possible in the region. This is especially true for the substantial proportion of female, rural, Indigenous, Hispanic, and low-income students at ISU that often look for employment outside of academia. The LA-ICP-QQQ instrument will be used to recruit minority students to our graduate programs who can conduct original research under mentorship of the co-PI group. We will train and engage students in understanding how they can apply sophisticated techniques to answer challenging questions about the past and today in both the natural and social sciences, as well as to help plan for improved futures in our region.<br/><br/><br/>The acquisition of this instrument is a significant improvement in the analytical capabilities of ISU. The Excimer laser is unparalleled in its capability with high-precision, non-destructive and rapid analysis, reduced contamination, and depth profiling. All of this when coupled with the LOC allows for the most accurate analysis for challenging samples across disciplines. The Agilent 8900 is a multi-tool mass spectrometer allows the research groups to conduct an array of analyses for liquids, solids, and gases. It introduces analytical capabilities such as low-level determination of previously difficult elements, separation of direct isobaric overlaps, and fast, trace analysis of emerging nano-scale materials to extend the application of ICP-MS into new frontiers of analysis. Several examples of these projects are: investigation of numerous human behaviors including technological development, decision making, and mobility worldwide through the tracing of stone tools to their geologic sources; conduct numerous geochronology analyses, determine U-Pb crystallization/cooling ages of rocks, Lu- Hf data, assess profiles of soil chemistry at archaeological sites, reveal changes in volcanic sediment composition through time, and fingerprint trace element geochemical signatures in various rocks and minerals in river systems; help solve numerous forensics missing persons cases, including those of unidentified migrants, by applying new trace element analytical techniques; examine how interactions among biological, geological, and chemical systems impact human health via groundwater consumption and contamination; and investigate the pivotal role that heavy metals play in the virulence of bacteria, particularly among invertebrate hosts.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
