Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Our ability to predict the impacts of climate and environmental change on ecosystems and resources relies upon understanding the dispersal, distribution, and cycling of elements (e.g. nutrients such as nitrogen; N) and energy (tracked as reduced and oxidized forms of carbon; C) within and among biogeochemical ecosystem components. Ziegler, Leroux and Morrill's research programs focus on improving our understanding of C and N cycling supporting the predictive understanding of ecosystem responses to change, including C cycling and climate feedbacks, informing management, and mitigation and adaption strategies by rights holders, governments, and industries. For example, applicants' effort to understand controls on C and N fluxes associated with the terrestrial-aquatic interface, herbivore impacts on terrestrial ecosystem properties and deep biosphere reservoirs help to address the large uncertainty in Earth System Models of terrestrial C sequestration or exchange. These research programs, focusing on the biogeochemistry and ecology of high latitude landscapes, watersheds, coastal ecosystems, and the deep biosphere, rely upon accurate and rapid measurement of C and N in water and various soil and geological extracts. These are fundamental measures required to calculate fluxes and stocks, evaluate compositional change within surface and ground waters, soil and geologic pools, and estimate microbial biomass in response to environmental change. Therefore, we are requesting a replacement for a 15-year old total organic, and inorganic, C (TOC, TIC) and N (TN) analyzer with a liquid autosampler (TC/N analyzer) capable of supporting these fundamental measures. Over the past 18 months, this failing TC/N analyzer has costed about $9K in repairs due to broken parts, electronic and communication issues. These continue to persist such that current operation is not yet possible and costs are prohibitive given the age of this instrument resulting in the applicants having spent $17K in analytical costs for samples sent away over this period. Further delay in access to the requested equipment will continue to reduce highly qualified personnel (HQP) training, slow and reduce the scope of research and availability of funds for other research activities supporting the three applicants' research programs. Management of the training, operation and maintenance will fall under the guidance of the three applicants who collectively have 35 years of training and laboratory management experience. This includes recent training and actions specific to enhancing equity, diversity and inclusion by reducing well known barriers that women and BIPOC members of our society face in their natural science careers. The requested TOC/N system will operate full-time to support the three applicants' NSERC research programs and provide research training and marketable job skills for their students with a minimum of 30 HQP to be trained using this equipment over the next five years.