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Contact: Tom Parisi, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-3635

October 28, 2003

NSF grants raise the profile of NIU geology

DeKalb, Ill.--For the third consecutive year, the National Science Foundation has given a major boost to NIU's geology program with funding for cutting-edge technology that will vastly enhance faculty and student research capabilities.

NSF is providing the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences with $206,000 for the purchase of an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The research tool could arrive as soon as February. It is a particular boon to NIU's blossoming research specialties in global climate change and environmental studies.

The funding comes through NSF's highly competitive Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI), designed to improve the condition of scientific equipment for research and training in U.S. academic institutions.

"A university can only submit three MRI proposals a year. For one department to win three consecutive grants, that's very unusual," said Jonathan Berg, chair of Geology and Environmental Geosciences.

The department won previous MRI grants to purchase an environmental scanning electron microscope and a drilling rig used for climate study in Antarctica. The NIU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences also contributed matching funds equaling 30 percent or more of each grant.

"With the matches, the equipment upgrades total more than $1 million and are making a tremendous impact on our facilities," Berg said. "I think it speaks to the fact that the work of our faculty and student researchers is recognized internationally as being relevant and important."

The department's improved facilities also can be expected to attract high quality researchers and students. "Our department has really grown in its research capabilities," said Professor Paul Loubere, who along with Professors Eugene Perry and Melissa Lenczewski spearheaded the latest MRI proposal.

"We've been successful in acquiring equipment that enhances both our fieldwork and our ability to analyze materials that we bring back to NIU," Loubere said. "There aren't many universities or departments that offer the wide spectrum of tools that we have or will soon have at our disposal."

The new isotope ratio mass spectrometer will detect the amount of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen isotopes in liquid, solid or gaseous samples. The information helps scientists discover the origin and distribution of these elements in the environment.
Such analyses are critical to a wide variety of research areas. Loubere's research, for example, aims to understand how the carbon cycle in oceans controls the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

"Using the mass spectrometer, I can examine the changing cycles of carbon in the ocean and in the atmosphere over time," he said. "That will allow me to better understand the processes that are involved in climate change."

Mass spectrometer studies also help scientists determine the impact of pollution on groundwater supplies. Subsurface aquifers are the primary source of useable water in many parts of the world. The northern Illinois region, in fact, has become increasingly dependent on its groundwater supplies, Loubere said.

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