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Research & Facilities
Shared Use Facilities
- Laboratory for Isotopes and Metals in the Environment (LIME)
LIME has the following shared equipment: Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES); Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS); Multiple Collector Inductively-Coupled Mass Spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS); and Elemental Analyzer- Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (EA-IRMS).
- Cryogenic Vacuum Distillation System (Eissenstat Lab)
Lab focus is on the extraction of leaf and stem water prior to analysis of natural abundance stable isotopes (oxygen-18 and deuterium).
Specifications: A total of 5 units are available to extract water from plant tissue and may be operated simultaneously. Each unit consists of a sample tube, condenser tube, attachment to vacuum line, vacuum gauge, and associated stopcocks, fittings, o-rings, and clamps. Samples must fit within the sample tube, which is about 16 centimeters tall, and has a diameter of about 2.5 centimeters.
- Water Quality Lab (View our rates)
The Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center maintains a water quality laboratory equipped with a full range of analytical instruments for specific water analyses. The major instrumentation includes: a Dionex ICS3000 ion chromatography unit, SEAL AQ2+ Discrete analyzer, a Perkin-Elmer model AAanalyst 800 combined flame and furnace atomic absorption spectrometer, Milestone DMA 80, Shimadzu TOC-VCPH analyzer, Radiometer Triburette with Titralab, Mettler DL15 titrator, YSI 3200, Beckman 360 and a Hach 2100N. With this equipment, laboratory technicians can determine water parameters such as pH, alkalinity, acidity, specific conductance, sulfates, turbidity, chlorides, fluorides, and various forms of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, metals, and heavy metals. The laboratory follows strict quality assurance and quality control guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Techniques available are listed below:
Other Facilities
- Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory
The Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory provides a wide range of testing programs for soils, water, plants, biosolids and other agricultural materials. The fee-based programs are available to all University faculty and staff as well as the general public.
- Shared Fermentation Facility, University Park
Providing bioprocessing services for microbial cell growth, protein production, cell separation and disruption, and biofuel fermentation.
- View list of institutes, centers, laboratories, consortia, initiatives, and research groups at Penn State related to energy and the environment.
- To view a comprehensive list of Penn State institutes and centers visit the Office of the Vice President for Research's Centers and Capabilities web page.
