Facilities and Equipment
Overview
USF CMS maintains a diverse array of specialized analytical instrumentation, experimental facilities and research equipment for use by USF faculty, staff and students, and local, regional and international collaborators. For more information, visit our laboratories page.
Aquarium Lab
The Research Aquarium Lab is a flexible, user-directed facility capable of housing marine flora and fauna for husbandry and experimental purposes. The lab has both flow-through and closed system seawater options with aeration conduit and access points throughout the entire facility. It is equipped with large water tables and cylindrical tanks plus an array of smaller aquaria, pumps, powerheads, heaters, and chillers.
CO2 Chemistry Lab
The CO2 Chemistry Lab develops procedures and instrumentation for laboratory, shipboard and in situ measurements of CO2 system parameters.
Electron Microscopy Laboratory
Transmission and Scanning Electron microscopes with an accessory x-ray microanalysis system. Used for research and teaching across a variety of disciplines. Laboratory houses all the necessary specimen preparation equipment for the TEM and SEM.
Machine Shop
Machine Shop intro coming soon.
Marine Environmental Chemistry Lab (MECL)
The Marine Environmental Chemistry Laboratory is a multi-group core analytical facility in the USF College of Marine Science MSL Building. The stable-isotope (magnetic sector) and GC- and LC- (tandem-quadrupole) mass spectrometers housed in the MECLab support the research enterprise of faculty and students across the USF-system, local and state partners, and collaborators around the world.
Marine Genomics Lab
Marine Genomics Lab intro coming soon.
Marine Metal Isotope and Trace Element Lab
Marine Metal Isotope and Trace Element Lab intro coming soon.
Oceanic Nutrient Laboratory
The Oceanic Nutrient and CDOM Laboratory performs nutrient analyses of seawater and freshwater samples for inorganic macronutrients (nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, phosphate, silicate) in addition to analysis of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) characteristics. The lab supports the CARIACO time series program, experimental process studies, and ongoing research in the Southern Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
Optical Oceanography Lab
The ocean optics facility includes an instrument and optics lab equipped with optical table, integrating sphere, NIST-traceable lamp, and fabrications for validation of the lab鈥檚 optical sensors.
Research Vessels
Research Vessels intro coming soon.
Satellite Oceanography Lab
The Satellite Oceanography Laboratory performs analysis on a large number of historical & current NASA satellite missions focusing on sea level & ocean circulation. Missions: TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, Jason-2, Jason-2 & Sentinel-6 along-track altimetry & the new Surface Water & Ocean Topography interferometer radar data, as well as satellite gravity from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE), GRACE Follow-on, & GRACE-Continuity.
Short-lived Radiochemistry Laboratory
The short-lived radioisotope laboratory is comprised of three high-resolution gamma spectrometer systems (2 well, 1 planar) used for broad applications in radiogeochemistry, water column radiochemistry, and analytical chemistry, but commonly used for oil spill research, paleoceanography, and characterization of recent sedimentation in coastal, estuarine, and marine settings.
Tampa Bay Plasma Facility
The Tampa Bay Plasma Facility is a multi-group core analytical facility comprised of three inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometers and associated preparative and sample-handling equipment. The instruments are used for a variety of CMS, School of Geosciences and USF research: Trace metal geochemistry, isotope geochemistry, paleoceanography, geochemistry, radiometric dating, archeometry/anthropology and forensic science.
The Overturning and Climate Lab
The Overturning and Climate Lab focuses on understanding the dynamics of large-scale ocean circulation and its impact on climate variability and change. We combine observations, numerical modeling, and theoretical approaches to investigate circulations such as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and Subtropical Cells (STCs).