Lab Manager – Dr. Richard D. Ash
I am the Laboratory Manager of the Plasma Mass Spectrometry Lab at the University of Maryland. As can be seen on the laboratory homepage we have a new Thermo Neptune Plus multi-collector ICP-MS (2018), for the high precision analysis of isotope ratios of elements ranging from Li to U, and a ThermoFinnigan Element 2 for the determination of trace element abundances. Sample introduction is by laser ablation or by solution.
My primary research interests are in the origin and early evolution of planets and planetary systems. My approach is based on the analysis of chondritic meteorites; partially digested leftovers from the formation of the planets in our Solar System. These chondritic meteorites are made up of material that was processed in the solar nebula just before, or penecontemporaneously with, the accumulation of materials that would eventually coalesce to form planets. The materials that escaped later accretion into planets, to have their memories erased by geological processing, have survived in asteroids. Finally they get delivered to us as meteorites, largely unchanged for 4.56 billion years. By looking at the mineralogy, petrology, chemistry and isotopic abundances in these objects we try to understand the conditions under which they formed, and the processes of planet building.
My other interests are in the analysis of pretty much anything else! Our laboratory collaborates with numerous people from many disciplines, working in multiple institutions when trace elements and isotopes can be used to answer their scientific questions. Research areas include, but are not limited to igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, fossil shells and corals, reptile taphonomy, human baby teeth, achondrites, trinitite, water, brain cells, sediments, corals, nuclear forensics, pipe bombs, cold fusion, silver artefacts, batteries, meso-american pottery, human hair, foxes, nuclear fuel rods, experimental petrology, honey and pollen, pharmaceuticals, chondrites, bones, and nano-particles.
Faculty Researchers
Dr. Richard Walker
Dr. Igor Puchtel
Dr. Sarah Penniston-Dorland
Dr. Alan J. Kaufman
Associated Researchers
Cari Corrigan
Smithsonian Natural History Museum
Dennis Terry
Temple University
Tim McCoy
Smithsonian Natural History Museum
Nancy Chabot
Johns Hopkins University
Katherine Bermingham
Rutgers University
Hope Tornabene
Rutgers University
Paul Ullmann
University of North Dakota
Geoffrey Gilleaudeau
George Mason University
Hope Tornabene
Rutgers University
Hellmann, Jan (Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research)
Becker, Harry (Freie Univerität Berlin)
Berry, A. and Craig Westphal (Naval Research Laboratory)
Brenan, J. (Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University)
Corrigan, C. and Beck, A. (John Hopkins Applied Physics Lab)
Grandstaff, J. and Terry, D. (Temple University, Philadelphia)
Hall, J. (Geology and Geophysics, Yale University)
He, Min (National Institute of Health)
Helz, George (Chemistry, University of Maryland)
Fei, Y. (Geophysics, Carnegie Institution of Washington)
King, R. and Bebout, G. (Earth & Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University)
Lundstrom, C. (Geology, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign)
Ryan, J. (Geology, University of Southern Florida, National Science Foundation)
Shugar, A. (Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education)
Sirbescu, M. (Central Michigan State University)
Sorenson, S. and McCoy T.J. (Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History)
Terry, D. and Grandstaff, D. (Geology Department, Temple University)
Watson, H. (Physics and Astronomy, Union College, New York)
Watson, B. (Earth & Environmental Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Wiebe, R. (Geosciences, Franklin and Marshall College)