Research on soils and plants, including modern and fossil plants (paleobotany)
The environmental science laboratory has a range of analytical equipment available to determine the composition of soils, plant tissues, and water samples taken from the field. In addition, research on plant fossils (e.g., pollen and leaves) reconstructs ancient environments from Arctic and western Canada with a focus on Eocene and Pliocene epoch sites.
Analysis of samples of water, soils, plants, and fossil pollen and leaves (palynology / paleobotany)
- Agriculture, animal science and food
- Education
- Environmental technologies and related services
- Mining, minerals and metals
Specialized Labs and Equipment
|
Name of specialized lab |
Name of equipment |
Description of function |
|
Analytical suite |
Leco TruSpec |
Total N and Total C on solid samples |
|
|
Shimadzu |
Total N, organic C, and total C on aqueous samples |
|
|
Astoria segmented flow spectrophotometer |
Ionic species in solution, including orthophosphate, nitrate, and ammonium |
|
|
Varian ICP OES |
Concentration in solution of a wide range of metals and other elements |
|
|
BioTek cell plate spectrophotometer |
Protein concentration |
|
Microscopy suite |
Olympus MVX10 stereo-microscope with digital image capture |
Microscopic examination of hand samples, e.g. seeds, leaves. Epifluoresence + image analysis. |
|
|
Olympus BX51 Microscope , compound microscope with digital image capture |
Microscopic examination of plant tissues and pollen samples prepared and mounted on glass slides. Epifluoresence + image analysis. |