Ecohydrology Research Group

What the facility does

Biogeochemistry, environmental chemistry, and geomicrobiology.

Areas of expertise

The Ecohydrology Laboratories provide advanced instrumentation and experimental systems to determine the size, morphology, mineralogy and chemistry of soils, sediments, colloids, and aerosols, the chemical composition of aqueous samples (major and minor elements, nutrients, metalloids, redox, speciation), rates of biogeochemical processes under controlled environmental conditions, and the structure and abundance of microbial communities. In addition, cultures of model organisms (algae, bacteria) and specialized field equipment (samplers, sensors) are available.

Research services

Fee-based analytical services

Sectors of application

Agriculture, animal science and food

Education

Environmental technologies and related services

Information and communication technologies and media

Management and business related services

Policy and governance

Professional and technical services (including legal services, architecture, engineering)

Specialized labs and equipment

Specialized lab	Equipment	Function
Environmental Particle Analysis Laboratory	Micro-X-ray fluorescence analytical microscope (µ-XRF)	HORIBA XGT-7000V Provides elemental mapping and quantification of solid (and sometimes liquid) samples Detection range: sodium (Na) to uranium (U)
	X-ray diffractometer (XRD)	PANalytical Empyrean Series 2 Determines crystal structure and phases Reflection and transmission analysis Able to handle specialty samples (flat, thin-layer slurry, flow-through, air-sensitive)
	Table-top electron microscope with EDS system	Hitachi TableTop SEM (scanning electron microscope) TM3000 Bruker QUANTAX 70 Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (EDS) provides qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis of all solid materials Magnification: 15-30,000 x Detection range: boron (5) to americium (95)
Aqueous Analysis Laboratory	ICP-OES: Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry	Thermo Scientific iCAP 6300 with auto sampler Analysis and quantification of major and minor cations and trace elements Analyzes up to 66 different elements with sub-ppb detection limits
	Capillary ion chromatograph system	Dionex ICS-5000 with auto sampler State-of-the-art 4-µm capillary column with high pressure capability Analysis of anions and organic acids (proteins, nucleotides, and amino acids)
	Flow injection analysis (FIA) spectrophotometer	Lachat QuikChem 8500 with auto sampler Automated spectrophotometric, colorimetric assays for alkalinity, soluble silicate, soluble Fe, total P, ortho P, total Kjeldhal N, sulfide, and amino acids
	HPLC coupled to atomic fluorescence (HPLC-UV-HG-AFS)	Agilent HPLC used in conjunction with the Millennium Excalibur Provides speciation information in addition to total analysis Selenium species: selenocystine, selenomethionine, selenite and selenite
	Organic C, Total N Analyzer	Shimadzu TOC-LCPH/CPN with auto injector Measures organic C (TOC), TC, IC, and total N with concentrations from 4 µg/L to 30,000 mg/L State-of-the-art 680°C combustion catalytic oxidation method Analysis of samples ranging from ultra-pure water to sea water or highly contaminated samples
Biogeochemical Kinetics Laboratory	Batch reactors, flow-through reactors, chemostats, and soil column systems	Custom-built experimental systems designed to measure rates of biogeochemical reactions, fluxes and pathways.
	Soil CO₂ flux analyzer	LI-8100 Automated Soil Flux System interfaced with the LI-8150 Multiplexer, allowing users to monitor up to 16 chambers simultaneously.
	Micro-respiration system	MicroResp™ is a microplate-based respiration system that enables the user to analyze up to 96 soil, sediment or water samples on a single, compact plate.
	Micro- and mini-electrodes
Geomicrobiology	Algae culturing
	Aerobic/Anaerobic bacterial culturing
	Molecular testing (PCR, electrophoresis, DGGE, gel imaging)
	Bright field epifluorescence microscopy
Additional	A variety of environmentally controlled chambers, including a walk-in unit