Water Quality Analytical Laboratory

Our lab's vision is to improve the health of our streams, rivers, and downstream receiving bodies of water that are important for both human needs and ecological functioning. Our focus is on interconnections between the dominant physical and biogeochemical processes that alter material fate and transport from the landscape through river networks. We examine how these processes respond to external forces (e.g. climate, landuse change) across a range of spatial and temporal scales, and work closely with Land and Water faculty and other scientists within the university and beyond to develop workable and sustainable solutions to reduce our impacts on aquatic resources. Our current field sites and tools include the following:

Field sites:

• Southeastern floodplains (e.g. Tangiphoa River, LA)
• Agricultural streams (e.g. Great Plains - Maple Creek, NE)
• Headwater forested streams (e.g. Big Elk Creek Watershed)
• Glaciated Watersheds (e.g. Mendenhall River, AK)

Laboratory & modeling tools:

• Nutrient speciation & analysis (e.g. Seal flow injection analyzer)
• Carbon characterization ( e.g. Shimadzu DOC & DON analyzer / Fluoromax fluorometer)
• Water isotope capability
• Ion chromatograph for anion analysis
• ICP for cation analysis
• Gas chromatographs for dissolved gasses
• Multiple working flumes
• GIS laboratory for regional scale anlysis

Field tools:

• Water quality datasondes
• ISCO autosamplers
• Multiple injection pumps for tracer experiments
• Surveying equipment
• ADCP current profiler

Analyst