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UCSC Stable Isotope Laboratory OverviewUniversity of California Santa Cruz Stable Isotope Laboratory (SIL) was established in 1994 with two Fisons Dual-Inlet isotope ratio mass spectrometers (the Optima and Prism III) equipped with automated common acid bath carbonate devices. This lab has been under the direction of PI's Christina Ravelo and Jim Zachos since its inception. In 1996, Paul Koch added a continuous flow Elemental Analyser system to the Opitma and assumed a co-director role. To date, these instruments have generated over 95,000 analyses. In January of 2006 three new Thermo-Finnigan Delta+XP continuous flow mass spectrometer systems were installed in the SIL. This facility was funded by a Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant involving the National Science Foundation, the UCSC Physical and Biological Sciences Divsion, and the UCSC Vice Chancellor of Research. This new facility offers greatly expanded research capabilities to scientists at research institutions which rim the Monterey Bay Crecent. UCSC faculty Christina Ravelo, Raphe Kudela and Matt McCarthy (Ocean Sciences), and Paul Koch (Earth and Planetary Sciences) are the primary directors of this new facility. In October of 2009, our trusty Optima was retired from service to make room for a new instrument. In November 2009, a ThermoFisher MAT253 isotope ratio mass spectrometer, coupled to a Kiel IV automated carbonate device was installed and shortly thereafter brought into regular service. |
 NEWS & EVENTSUCSC's Stable Isotope Laboratory operations are back to full operations following the Covid-19 shutdown. Please contact the lab if you are interested in our services. SIL Co-Director Matt McCarthy directed a weekend program for about 20 Educational Opportunity (EOP) STEM transfer students highlighting the use of stable isotope analyses in phyiscial and biological science inquiry. UCSC's Stable Isotope Laboratory welcomes new Ocean Sciences faculty member Pratigya Polissar. Dr. Polissar will join the SIL as a co-director SIL Co-Founder Paul Koch and colleagues review Sundance Film Festival movies for Science magazine. SIL Co-Director Matt McCarthy recieved a NSF Major Research Instrumentation award for new compound specific isotope ratio mass spectrometers. SIL Co-Director Matt McCarthy directed a weekend program for about 40 Educational Opportunity (EOP) STEM transfer students highlighting the use of stable isotope analyses in phyiscial and biological science inquiry. SIL Co-Director Jim Zachos appointed to Ida Benson Lynn Endowed Chair in Ocean Health. UC Santa Cruz biologists Daniel Costa and Luis Huckstadt found valuable samples for comparison of modern Weddell seals to century-old pelts found in the huts of Antarctic explorers Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott. Their findings reveal changes in the Ross Sea ecosystem. SIL Co-director Jim Zachos elected to be a member of the National Academy of Sciences! UCSC Stable Isotope Laboratory data used to show threatened grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park have a vital hankering for a dwindling supply of pine nuts. SIL Co-director and UCSC Physical and Biological Sciences Dean Paul Koch has been elected 2015 AAAS Fellow for "energetic and innovative leadership in applying stable isotope geochemistry to document and interpret environmental change through the past 65 million years of Earth history.". SIL Co-director Jim Zachos has been awarded the 2016 Milutin Milankovic Medal by the European Geosciences Union. Formation of coastal sea ice in North Pacific drives ocean circulation and climate. So indicates evidence published by UCSC scientists Karla Knudson and Christina Ravelo. Christina Ravelo, Professor of Ocean Sciences at UC Santa Cruz and UCSC Stable Isotope Laboratory co-director, has received the 2013-14 Outstanding Faculty Award from the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences. The annual award is the division's highest honor for faculty achievement, recognizing combined excellence in research, teaching, and service. Long-term human influenced dietary habits of Yosemite National Park black bears explored by UCSC scientist Jack Hopkins, Paul Koch, and colleagues. SIL Co-Director Paul Koch honored as a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. See story here. Diversity of great white shark diet was shown to be greater than previously thought based on research by UC Santa Cruz colleagues Sora Kim, Paul Koch, and James Estes along with co-author M. Tim Tinker of the U.S. Geological Survey. This work was highlighted in the Los Angeles Times. SIL Co-Director Paul Koch has been named Dean of the UC Santa Cruz Division of Physical and Biological Sciences. Madagascar Lemur extinctions and ecological retreat followed arrival of humans according to UCSC Graduate Student Brooke Crowley, Professor Paul Koch and co-authors. Their findings were recenlty published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. SIL Co-Director Paul Koch was quoted in the New York Times on research showing that a tiny Paleocene horse Sifrhippus, the first horse, grew even smaller during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum climatic warming event. SIL Co-Director Christina Ravelo has been selected as an American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fellow. SIL Co-Directors Paul Koch and Jim Zachos's research on Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) climatic warming event is featured in an National Geographic article "Earth Before the Ice" in the October 2011 issue. SIL Co-Director Paul Koch has been appointed Interim Dean of the UC Santa Cruz Division of Physical and Biological Sciences. SIL Co-Director Jim Zachos elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. UCSC's SIL new ThermoScientific MAT 253 isotope ratio mass spectrometer coupled to a Kiel Automated Carbonate Device begins regular operations. UCSC's SIL retires its 15 year-old dual-inlet Optima following a very productive career. The instrument generated over 40,000 data points. Two Tsavo Lions In Famed Killings Get Partial Reprieve according to UCSC Graduate Student Justin Yeakel. Listen to Justin's inteview on National Public Radio's All Things Considered: SIL co-director Christina Ravelo (Ocean Sciences) sails as co-chief scientist on Integrated Ocean Drilling Project (IODP) Expedition 323 to investigate Bearing Sea Paleoceanography.
SIL co-director Christina Ravelo (Ocean Sciences) gives the 2008 Emiliani Lecture at the American Geophysical Union Meeting in San Francisco on "Lessons from the Pliocene Warm Period and the Onset of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation".
UCSC SIL has been funded by the National Science Foundation for a new Dual-Inlet Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer with individual acid drip system for very small calcium carbonate samples. SIL co-director Jim Zachos (Earth and Planetary Sciences) recieves prestigious Humbolt Research Award. See Humbolt Award for details. SIL Co-Director Jim Zachos has been selected as an American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fellow. In recognition of the new continuous flow instruments added to the UCSC stable isotope facility a Symposium is being run to highlight the new analytical capabilities. |
