The Environmental Teaching Lab
The Environmental Teaching Lab, on the top floor of the Rutherford-McCowan building, is home to a variety of instrumentation and is used regularly in teaching undergraduate courses and in research.
The lab is suitable for preparation of many different types of environmental samples and the instrumentation in the lab allows a wide range of analyses to be conducted. Some of the available applications include:
Soil analysis, to assess soil quality or investigate contamination:
- Loss on ignition (LOI) for organic matter content, cation exchange capacity (CEC), moisture content, alkali metals by flame photometry (Na, K, Ca), salinity, pH, acid digestion for analysis of inorganic contaminants, trace heavy metal analysis by anodic stripping voltammetry (Pb, As, Zn, Cd), soil CO2 efflux...
Water quality analysis:
- Inorganic contaminants by anodic stripping voltammetry (Pb, As, Zn, Cd), salinity, alkali metals by flame photometry (Na, K, Ca), pH, biological oxygen demand (BOD)...
Analysis of biological samples:
- Microplastics in marine biota, plant growth experiments...
For further information about the lab facilty, or to enquire about use of the lab facility for research, then contact Dr. Michael Muir
