CSS 523: Principles of Stable Isotopes

Special Topics

Choose the topic of interest to you (perhaps not everyone will get her/his first choice). If you know of a topic not on this list you may propose it. Start with a literature search, but if you are having trouble getting anywhere, don’t hesitate to ask for help. Your presentations should be about 15 min. long and will be followed by up to 15 min. of discussion.

Compound-specific isotope ratio mass spectrometry (e.g., ¹³C-PLFA analysis)
Isotopomer analysis (e.g., ¹⁴N¹⁵NO vs. ¹⁵N¹⁴NO)
TOF-SIMS applications (e.g., isotope assimilation in single microbial cells and cell aggregates)
Stable isotope probing (e.g., coupling stable isotopes and molecular biology)
/\¹⁴C analysis (e.g., taking advantage of “bomb” C for C turnover studies in plants and soils; Gaudinski et al. 2001, Oecologia, a good place to start)
¹³C-NMR (e.g., insights into soil organic matter composition and decomposition processes)
³⁴S applications
⁵⁴Fe applications (or ⁵⁷Fe)
Stable isotopes in food purity/adulteration studies
Stable isotopes as tools for archeology
Use of stable isotopes to solve crimes
Use of tunable laser diodes and isotopes to study ecosystem processes
Stable isotopes in paleoclimate analyses

Instructors: David D. Myrold and Elizabeth Sulzman

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