Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The over arching goal of our research program is to develop early warning markers for measuring adverse effects of environmental contaminants on ecosystem health. Environmental exposure just above background levels rarely leads to observable immediate effects. Slow, insidious changes in biological functions, reflecting diminished wellbeing, are more common. We have spent the last five years developing, evaluating and validating the use of a number of chemicals in the brain and blood of wildlife and humans that can be used for indicators of toxicity of environmental pollutants such as mercury. The proposed instrument will allow us to measure the quantity and acitivities of these chemicals accurately and rapidly using the state-of-the-art technology.  It will allow us to measure multiple chemicals using very limited amount of samples such as brain tissues from polar bear and beluga whales as well as less than 1 mL of human blood. Students and collaborators at the university will also benefit by improving their working efficiency and cut down the use of radioactive materials for their experiment.