Graham Environmental Geochemistry Laboratory

In June 2024, the Graham group (Andrew, Ana, and Lizzie) and our partner at Iowa State University’s Stable Isotope Paleo Environments Research Group, Diana Thatcher, traveled to Maine to complete sampling of water, sediment, and Arctica islandica in the Gulf of Maine.  We had a great time thanks to our excellent hosts at Bowdoin College’s Schiller Coastal Studies Center and the Downeast Institute.

Ana, Andrew, and Lizzie on board the SCSS’s R/V A.O.K. with Seguin Island in background

An impressive catch of Arctica islandica

Ana, Lizzie, and Diana excited to go fishing for Arctica despite the very early start.

Ana, Lizzie, and Diana excited to go fishing despite the early start.

Lizzie and Ana collect seawater sample from a just-retrieved Niskin bottle.

In the planning stages for fieldwork for sampling of clams (Arctica islandica), sediments, and waters for NSF sponsored project: MCA: “Developing a paleorecord of Hg in long-lived mollusks from the Gulf of Maine” (EAR 2322048).  The project is a collaboration with Diana Thatcher and Betsy Swanner at Iowa State University.  The project will leverage tools from trace element geochemistry, stable isotope geochemistry, and sclerochronology to evaluate whether a clam shell record can serve as a valuable proxy record for mercury in the Gulf of Maine, one of the fastest warming areas of the global oceans.

Our study of Hg biogeochemistry in the lower Cedar River floodplain was published in August 2023 in the Journal Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry.  Link to paper here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvc.2023.1242813/full

Congratulations to Graham lab alums Seth Van Helten, Austin Wadle, Emily Mamrak, Jacob Morsch, Sam Lopez, and Katie Smith!

Congratulations to lab alumni Chris Brunet, Eva Gemrich, and Sav Biedermann and colleagues Peter Jacobson (Grinnell College), Keith Schilling (Iowa Geological Survey) and Chris Jones (Iowa IIHR) for publication of their work on nutrient capture and transport at Grinnell College’s Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA) published in the Journal of Environmental Management.   Link to article here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113647

Chris Brunet (’19) conducting field work at Willow Creek

Pleased to announce the awarding of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant to PI’s Andrew Graham, Maisha Kamunde-Devonish, Lee Sharpe,  (all Grinnell College Chemistry), and Peter Jacobson (Grinnell College Biology) to support the purchase of a new inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) with laser ablation and mercury speciation capabilities.  The grant will support interdisciplinary research in biogeochemistry, materials science, archaeological chemistry, and bioinorganic chemistry.