MRI: Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma- Mass Spectrometry (ICP MS) for elemental concentration and speciation analysis at Montclair State University

This award will permit the acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) to enhance research activities, hands-on education, and analytical training. Acquisition of a modern ICP-MS with superior analytical capabilities will enhance the research resources for the rapidly increasing student population at Montclair State University (undergraduate population >60% women and >20% minorities).

The ICP-MS will be shared by interdisciplinary research programs in the College of Science and Mathematics, College of Education and Human Services (CEHS), and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS). The faculty of the College of Science and Mathematics actively involve undergraduate and graduate students in their field-based and laboratory-based research programs, which take place across the United Sates, South American, Europe, Asia, and Antarctica. Projects that will benefit from this instrument include contaminant identification and environmental remediation, petrology and volcanology studies, climate studies based on soil and sediment chemistry, water quality studies, food quality and food security studies, and archeological investigations that track building materials through their elemental fingerprints.