Director:

Dr. Clive R. Neal. Dr. Neal uses petrology and geochemistry to investigate the environment from planetary differentiation to heavy metal pollution. Dr. Neal has been Director of the Notre Dame ICP-MS Facility since 1992 when our VG PlasmaQuad II ICP-MS was purchased. Installed in 1993, the PQII has been the workhorse for trace (ppm-ppb) and ultra-trace (<ppb) work for more than a decade. In 2004 our Finnigan Element 2 high-resolution magnetic sector ICP-MS was purchased and installed. The Element 2 significantly enhances our capability to analyze samples with complex matrices and low elemental abundances.

Lab Manager:

Dr. John T. Shafer. Although trained as a petrologist with extensive experience in the major-, trace-, and platinum group element analysis of geological samples, Dr. Shafer is interested in all aspects of mass spectrometry. Dr. Shafer has assisted in the analysis of samples ranging from plant and animal tissues for heavy metal uptake/retention to the analysis of African groundwater for carcinogenic and heavy metal contamination. Dr. Shafer is also interested in the use of laser ablation ICP-MS for in situ trace element analysis of solid samples. John graduated in 2007 with a Ph.D. in Igneous Petrology. The title of his dissertation is: Major Element, Trace Element, and Isotopic Composition of Emperor Seamount Chain and Ontong Java Plateau Basalts.

Students:

Georgianna Kramer. George recently defended her Ph.D. dissertation and will officially graduate May of 2007. Her dissertation is titled: On the Petrogenesis and Distribution of the High-Alumina Mare Basalts: An Integrated Approach Using Geochemical And Remote Sensing Data.

Jocelyn Oshrin. Jocelyn is a first-year Masters student studying the crystal size distributions and crystal chemistry of lunar rocks. She completed her undergraduate degree in 2006 at the University of North Carolina.

Former Students (Ph.D):

William Kinman. Graduated in 2007. Dissertation titled: Textural and Microanalysis of Igneous Rocks: Tools for Understanding Igneous Processes. Dr. Kinman is now at Oak Ridge National Laboratories.

William Chazey. Graduated in 2004. Dissertation titled: A Comparision of LIP Magmatism: Examples from the Earth and the Moon. Bill focused on the geochemistry of the Ontong Java Plateau and the Kergeulen Plateau, discovering that the platinum group element abundances of the Ontong Java Plateau require an origin of the plume at the core-mantle boundary.

Cathleen McGinnis. Graduated in 2001. Dissertation titled: The Nature of the Sub-Continental Lithospheric Mantle Beneath Northern Venezuela: Implications for Plate Collision and Magmagenesis.

Amy Birkhold-Van Dyke. Graduated in 2000. Dissertation titled: A Geochemical Investigation of the Ontong Java Plateau.

James Ely. Graduated in 1999. Dissertation titled: Analysis of Platinum-Group Elements (PGEs) and Au in Geological Materials at Ultra-Trace Levels: Techinique Development and Applications. Jim helped develop the protocol for platinum group element analysis. His work led to the precise determination of sub-ppb platinum group elements in milligram sized samples. Previously, platinum group element determinations were done by fire assays and required grams of sample.

Former Students (Masters):

William Chazey. Graduated in 2001. Thesis titled: Verification of Y, Rb, Pb, and Th values for reference material BHVO-1.

Cathleen McGinnis. Graduated in 1997. Thesis titled: Characterization of memory effects and development of an effective wash protocol for the measurement of petrogenetically critical trace elements in geological samples by ICP-MS.

James O'Neill. Graduated in 1996. Thesis titled: Development of an ICP-MS Analytical Technique for the Quantification of the Platinum Group Elements (PGEs) and Gold in Geological Samples using Cation Exchange Pretreatment.

Jonathan Noris. Graduated in 1994. Thesis titled: Treatment of High-Selenium Waste Waters.